Final Fantasy 7: AVALANCHE
by Revokov
Summary: The first part of a FF7 novel I started writing a while back. It's based on the game and runs from the beginning to when the party flees Midgar. *COMPLETE*
1. The Noble Terrorists

**I-The Noble Terrorists**

            Midgar.  A floating, super-urban metropolis.  The home base of the most powerful company in the world, and home of eight Mako Reactors, devices that sucked the earth's internal energy and transformed it into electricity.  The exploitation of Mako was what had made Shinra rich, rich beyond all belief.  The company provided power to the entire world, usually by finding a Mako rich area and building a reactor there.  After becoming a superpower in the realm of business, Shinra Inc. became much more than an electric company.  They created armies, fought wars, mounted defenses everywhere, even infused their top fighters with enough Mako energy to make them superpowers themselves, creating an elite group of soldiers, accurately titled SOLDIER.  

            However, with power inevitably comes corruption.  President Shinra soon became the universal dictator.  Unchallenged, he ruled with a less than iron hand, but for the simple purpose of winning the trust of the people, while secretly manipulating them behind their backs.  Even more rich, Shinra Inc. began exploring other possible sources of income...and power.

            Mako Energy, however, was not as free as it seemed.  It was the very life of the planet, and as with all lives, it could not be restored.  The Shinra were slowly killing the planet, but knowingly went along with their deeds.  The Mako Reactors were a sign of prosperity and convenience to the ill informed, but a sign of upcoming doom to the wise.

            _I am among the wise,_ Barret Wallace thought to himself as he sat quietly in his seat on the speedy train taking him to the zone called Sector 8.  Below the large plate that made up upper Midgar, there were eight sectors of slums.  Trashy, vile areas that reeked of crime and neglect, they were also home to the eight Mako Reactors of Midgar, one in each sector to provide it and the sector above the plate, the sector that could still see the sun and moon, with power.  _I am informed; therefore I must act!  _Barret repeated this to himself many times as the train sped on.  It justified what he was about to do, the tyranny he'd create.  It was for the good of the planet.

            The rail bound vessel slowed to a halt at the Sector 8 station.  Barret looked across at his four comrades and they all shared a quick, reassuring grin.  Well, almost all of them.  The fourth, a spiky haired blonde kid merely glanced at him, and then stood to exit.  

            The guards at the station were always on somewhat heightened alert.  The station was very near the Mako Reactor, and troublemakers were not exactly welcome.  Not many people were getting off this time, they realized.  A few couples, a scrappy looking fellow, and an elderly man.  After they all had passed, the guards moved to seal the train's exit door.

            "Move!" Barret barked, gun-arm firing into the guard's chest.  The bulky, dark skinned man leaped over the guard's corpse, followed by three of his comrades.  The blonde took his time, leaping out with his gargantuan Buster Sword poised to strike.  Barret, however, had handled most potential threats with the large gatling gun replacing his right hand.  The other three terrorists had creamed all other enemies.

            AVALANCHE.  That's what they called themselves.  The toppling of an empire was their goal, and it would start by cutting off their source of profit: the Mako Reactors.

            Barret raced through the nearest exit, troops following closely.  They halted at the sound of a sickening thud and turned to see the blonde kid's sword come out of a hidden soldier's corpse.  Barret raised his eyebrows, but didn't waste his breath on a complement.  AVALANCHE split up here, each hunting for the entrance to the reactor.  

            Buster Sword ever ready, Cloud Strife scanned for more danger than anything.  He stayed somewhat close to Biggs, a tough member of Barret's little group of revolutionaries.  The 21 year old mercenary hadn't been crazy about this job in the first place, but as they proceeded, he was a bit surprised at how carelessly Shinra guarded their reactors.  _That'll soon change!_ he thought with a small grin.  From the side, a guard hound leaped out, startling the swordsman.  Claws left burning scratches in Cloud's arm, jolting the warrior into action.  He slammed the broadside of his wide sword into the dog's skull, certainly fracturing it.  Without waiting to find out, Cloud raced off to where AVALANCHE had congregated.  They appeared to have found an entrance.

            "Shinra's a bit lazy tonight, eh?" Biggs greeted him.  Skilled in hand-to-hand combat, Biggs almost had Cloud's respect.  Almost.  "I'm sure an ex-SOLDIER like you has seen much better in enemies."

            True, Cloud thought.  He had fought very powerful enemies.  He also had been in SOLDIER, Shinra's elite group of fighters.  His eyes held the glow of a man showered in Mako as proof.  He had even retained the sapphire blue armor issued to the top SOLDIERs, minus one silver epaulet.  His face was hardened, though his eyes were full of emotion.  His limbs were much thinner than Barret's, though they were still muscular.  That came from wielding his big sword.  It was because of SOLDIER that Cloud had a good deal of experience in weaponry.  It was also because of SOLDIER that Barret trusted Cloud about as much as he could trust a loaded shotgun that was already cocked and aimed at his head.  Cloud's cockiness didn't help much, either.

            Working on the gate to the industrial masterpiece was Jessie, a brunette with a good deal of skill in the mechanical department.  She herself had constructed the bomb that would be-well, should be-the end of this reactor.  She was also skilled in martial arts, making her useful all around.  

            "Got it!" she exclaimed suddenly.  The gate opened wide.  

            "Ready for action?" a stodgy fellow named Wedge asked Cloud. "Uh, what was your name again...?"

            "Cloud," he replied tiredly.  

            "Great, nice to have an ex-SOLDIER on the team!  Give the Shinra a taste of their own medicine!  My name's-"

            "I'm not interested in your name," Cloud cut him off somewhat coldly, "All I care about is finishing this job and getting my pay.  Then, I'm gone."

            Wedge looked ready to reply, but Barret's great voice beat him to it.

            "The hell you fools doin'?  I thought I told you never to travel in a group!  Move out!"  Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie didn't need to be told twice.  They were gone before Barret strode up to Cloud and looked rather disapprovingly at him.  "Ex-SOLDIER, huh?  Don't trust ya!"

            Cloud took that as an "after you" offer and moved wordlessly through the gate.  Barret followed, picking up speed as they entered the reactor.  Barret himself was a big, powerful man.  He wore a brown jacket around his body that lacked sleeves and didn't quite make it around, showing off his chest.  A thick metal band surrounded his waist to provide defense.  Wedge covered their exit path while the others moved on to a security gate room.

            Three more gates remained to be passed.  Biggs was working on the first one.  Barret took the opportunity to make conversation with his spiky-headed minion.

            "Bet this place is familiar to ya."

            "Hardly," Cloud offered.

            "Come on!  Ya mean to tell me Shinra don't give you SOLDIERS no guided tours?"

            "I guess," Cloud replied, growing impatient with the man.

            "These damn reactors are suckin the very life from the planet..." Barret said to seemingly no one in particular.  Cloud gambled it was aimed at him.

            "I don't care.  As long as it gets me my pay, more power to it."  He instantly regretted that.

            Barret spun on him, glaring.  "The planet's dyin', Cloud!  Don't tell me you don't give a care 'bout that!"

            "It doesn't concern me," he protested, looking for a way out.  It came in the form of Biggs' success at breaking the security code.  The gate opened and AVALANCHE filed through.  Jesse punched in the code this time, a code that was thankfully predetermined.  

            "Think how many people risked their lives, just for this code..." Biggs whispered loud enough for Cloud to hear.  The door whooshed open and all but Biggs remained to guard the area and, if needed, aid Wedge in securing the exit.

            Jessie started the elevator's decent.  Barret stood silently, not so much as looking at Cloud.  It put the younger man on edge.  The doors opened to reveal the greenish glow the reactor produced.  Jessie raced down the long flight of stairs, but Barret was slower, taking in the scenery.

            "This thing sucks up tons of power every day..."

            "Yeah, well, that's what we're here to stop, aren't we?" Cloud said before Barret could begin another of his speeches and bolted down the stairs.  Barret thundered after him, all the way down to the door that led to the pit of the reactor.  Cloud took a step forward.

            "Hold yer skinny white ass up, SOLDIER boy!" Barret barked, "Yer comin' with ME from now on!"

            Cloud was about to complain when three guard hounds appeared from the shadows.  Finally, Shinra defenses were showing themselves.

            "Heh, OK Bright-Eyes!  Les' see how a SOLDIER fights!"

            Grumbling, Cloud raced into the rather evil looking hound huddle, bringing his massive sword left to right, hoping to slaughter all three at once.  They scattered, however, before the blade could touch home.  Just as fast, they were back on Cloud.  Scratched again, Cloud jumped back in time to see a hound that had taken an interest in his throat dive at him.  It was pumped full of lead in midair by Barret's gatling gun-arm.  

            "Heh heh!  Need a babysitter, do ya?"  In response, Cloud brought his sword down at the head of another hound.  This time, it didn't miss.  Barret's stream of fire picked off the third, but also succeeded in hitting something metallic in the shadows.  A thin laser beam flew out and struck Barret in the abdomen, seating him rather unceremoniously.  

            "Whoa-" Cloud leaped back, dodging another beam.  Barret got up, the thick metal band around his lower chest having absorbed most of the damage.  He opened fire again, this time only succeeding in prompting a steady stream of laser fire.

            "Argh!" Barret moved for the door.  "Forget 'em!"

            Cloud would not.  He made out the outline of a 1st Ray, the most common of Shinra laser cannons.  He concentrated on thunder, blanking out all other thoughts but the flashes of lightning that were contained in his Lightning Materia.  Materia were stones of crystallized Mako energy that contained exceptional powers.  Skilled people could harness the powers within and use them for their own purposes, in Cloud's case, battle.  As Barret watched with some awe, a curtain of greenish energies surrounded Cloud and he pointed at the cannon, which Barret still could not see.  A bolt of lightning struck it dead on, shorting the thing out.  Cloud waltzed towards Barret, a grin on his face.  "Magic" was a talent every member of SOLDIER had experience in.  It drained you a little, but Bolt was a weak enough spell that it didn't call for much concentration to cast, and didn't leave you very drained, though overuse would do that.  _Even Barret could do it,_ Cloud thought with a wry smile.

            Barret harrumphed and moved into the large inner core of the reactor.  He hopped onto a ladder, Cloud in pursuit, and made his way down to the wire frame pathway.  Jessie was already there, looking out.  Cloud went ahead, hopping onto the ladder that led downward to some pipes.  This would be somewhat dangerous, he thought, since there was no railing and below them was a sea of water, most certainly guaranteed to have enough Mako to poison anyone who took a swim.  Cloud made his way calmly and carefully across, while the giant Barret lumbered clumsily behind.

            Jessie looked around, ready to alert the others if necessary.  Looking up by the exit path, the one leading to the large flight of stairs, she spied two mechanical men.  

            "Grunts!" she breathed.  She had done her homework on the Shinra's machines.  Grunts were combat drones, equipped with beam-spread cannons.  They showed a particular interest in Cloud and Barret....  "Look out!" she called; reminding herself she needed a long-range weapon.

            "Damn!" Cloud and Barret spat in unison.  

            "Go!" Barret barked, shooting at the distant threat.  Cloud leaped onto a ladder that led down to a path that would take him to the core of the reactor.  He heard Barret curse and looked up in time to see a barrage of little lasers swarm him.  Losing his footing almost immediately, Barret plummeted down, down...onto the narrow path Cloud had started on.

            "Barret Wallace," Cloud said with no small degree of awe, "You are a lucky, lucky man!"

            "Yeah, well," Barret got up, a bit pale, and flicked off the grunts, "Let's go..."  Cloud followed the burly man, hiding a snicker.

            The walkway ended at an engine type device that sent the majority of Mako up through the rest of the reactor.  This was the core, the place where their bomb would have the most effect.

            Barret frowned at him.  "You set it."

            "Wha...you're the leader of this outfit, you do it!"  
            "Nuh uh, I gotta make sure you don't pull nutin'."

            "Stubborn bastard..." Cloud muttered under his breath.

            "...You say sumthin', SOLDIER Boy?"

            "No, I-" Cloud halted in mid-sentence.  The room was getting blurry...why?  What was happening?  The only response to his unspoken questions was a throbbing pain in his head.  Cloud crumpled up, clutching his skull, and heard a slightly disembodied voice mutter in his brain...  _Watch out!!!  This isn't just a reactor!!!_

            As suddenly as it had come, the pain and disorientation died.  Cloud lurched to his feet, checking to make sure he hadn't dropped the bomb, while Barret gaped at him.

            "Man…I thought you were dyin' there for a sec!  Get a hold of yourself, will ya, an' don't scare me like that!"

            Cloud merely nodded and reluctantly approached the engine.  He strapped the bomb onto it and entered the code Jessie had helpfully written on a decal and placed on the bomb's side.  

            Jessie had been thankful when the Grunts had ignored her throughout their rampage, but none the less vigilant.  From out of nowhere, it seemed, a giant mechanized scorpion dropped onto the wide area at the base of the ladder Cloud had descended, creating a rumble that shook Jessie to the ground, wedging her foot in the wire frame.  "Shit..." she gasped as the arachnid mech started hovering and shot down the route to Barret and Cloud.  "A Guard Scorpion...Shinra's security brute....  INCOMING!!!!!" She screamed as loud as she could, hoping her allies would hear her.

            A rumble from behind him jolted Cloud from the bomb and into the engine, triggering an alarm system.  Sirens blared instantly.

            "Shi'," Barret cursed as he speedily slapped a few more magazines into his gatling gun, looking around, "The Roboguards are gonna be out in full force now!  How'd ya screw this one up?!  Betrayin' me, are ya?!"

            "No!" Cloud protested, sword out, "It was an accident-whoa...."

            Barret looked where Cloud had plastered his eyes in time to see a scorpion mech touch down on the wide platform the engine was located on.

            "Hoooooo boy..." He breathed.

            "Come on!" Cloud rushed the machine and cut into it with his Buster Sword, inflicting some slight damage against the creature's heavy armor.  Barret snarled and hoped his bullets would have better effect.  He blasted some holes into the machine happily, but most of his shots were deflected.  The Guard Scorpion didn't like this much and sent out a beam of light that locked onto Barret.  A targeting beam.  "Barret, look out!"  

            Too late.  The scorpion aimed its rifles at Barret and opened fire.  A short stream of bullets flew into and off of Barret's armored midsection.  The man thanked his senses again for telling him to wear the belt on the mission.  Cloud ran up and did some more slashing.  They were making some progress, but not much.  The scorpion's tail lashed down out of nowhere, sending Cloud flying backwards.  Winded, he stood.

            Guard Scorpion spun around so its rear faced the two and began to strike with its tail.  Cloud tried a few more times to get close.  Each time he was smashed with the tail.  Barret opened fire, but the tail lashed around, actually deflecting some bullets back.  That wasn't working, either.  

            Cloud inhaled and concentrated on electricity once more, the Lightning Materia in the slot on his Buster Sword glowing slightly.  Bolt hit the Guard Scorpion in the head, sending electricity coursing through it.

            "Again, man!" Barret coached.

            _It's not that easy!_ Cloud wanted to say, but again tried to concentrate.  This time, the Scorpion's search beam fell on him.  Snapping out of it, he dodged the machine's next salvo of bullets and lay down flat, concentrating and hoping the machine would buy the play dead routine.

            Barret worked on getting its attention.  The machine took offense to Barret's gunfire and returned it.  It gave Cloud enough time to leap up and send another bolt of lightning at the mechanical arachnid.  This one hurt it good.  It spun around and doubled back, getting both of them in its sights.  Barret aimed at the tail, which was beginning to raise.  A steady stream of fire found it, but this only seemed to make it even madder.

            "Barret, no!" Cloud called out, "Don't attack while it's tail is up!"

            "Like hell!  I found his weakness!"

            "It's gonna counterattack with its laser!" Cloud warned, too late.  A thick laser beam erupted from the tip of its tail striking Barret dead on and swerving into Cloud.  Both combatants collapsed and their enemy moved in for the kill, choosing Barret first.

            Cloud gasped for breath.  Another bolt might do the job, but he was feeling quite drained of power, and he doubted he'd muster the concentration necessary for it.  Instead, he felt some power coursing through his limbs.  _Thank god!_ he thought, slowly rising.

            Most every fighter had some talent that required great strength to do right, and great strength usually came from blind rage.  Cloud felt pushed, somewhat beyond his limit.  He glared at the scorpion and raised his sword...

            Barret kicked at the machine and it kicked back, stabbing with its tail.  Weakening yet angering, Barret finally managed to press his gun-arm to the belly of the beast and open fire at point blank.  The creature reeled back and aimed its rifles at Barret, locking on.  

            Cloud raced at the Guard Scorpion and leaped high into the air, coming down with his sword in a magnificent smash that cut deep into the machine, destroying crucial programs.  It lurched towards Cloud, sparking.  Cloud, however, was exhausted.  His "limit break", a term an old friend had used for this kind of angry strike, had left him a bit powerless.

            Barret felt power through anger, too.  Getting up, he aimed his gatling gun at the creature and focused his anger onto the gun.  Drawing power into a massive fireball, he let it loose.  The big shot tore through Guard Scorpion, finishing the job Cloud's slash had started.  The one time threat collapsed in a heap.

            Cloud, aware now of the continuing sirens, raced to the bomb and entered the final digit, activating it.

            "We got 10 minutes, Barret!  Let's move!"

            "Hold up!" he protested, ripping a part off the scorpion's remains, "I bet I can use this thing..."

            "Right, well, whatever.  Let's get out of here!"

            Both raced down the path to the ladder, scrambling up.  By now, any cannons and Grunts in the area were aware of intruders.  The pipe walk was untroubled, thankfully, but when Cloud went up, he found a few hounds pestering Jessie.

            "Down!" he commanded, getting its attention so it could see its destroyer.  After dispatching it, he looked down at a thankful Jessie.

            "My leg got stuck," she explained, silently begging for help.  Cloud silently agreed, twisting her foot out of the small hole.  "Thanks," she said quickly and took off.

            "Hrmph," Barret was amused, "Caring for someone other than yerself?"

            "Amused?  Not a fitting emotion for someone who has less than 10 minutes to live."  Cloud dashed to the ladder and climbed upward once more.  

            _Kid has a point..._ Barret thought as he made haste.

            When both had arrived at the staircase, they found themselves the target of five Grunts.  Laser beams flew everywhere.

            "Ignore 'em!" Cloud cried unnecessarily.  The stairs were longer than Cloud remembered, and halfway through they were ambushed by a squad of hounds.  "I'll cover, go!" Cloud ordered.  Barret grumbled something and kept going.  Cloud made quick work of the creatures, slashing up one and catching another by sticking his sword up in the dog's flight path.  The other two he caught in a wide range slash.

            Barret frowned down from the top of the stairwell.  _Kid thinks he's the best thing to hit the battlefield since Sephiroth..._ he thought grimly before continuing on.  Cloud caught up soon.  Biggs and Jessie were waiting.  AVALANCHE congregated and went down to meet Wedge at the exit.

            Lasers cut into them from behind.  

            "This we don't need!" Barret spat, racing on.  Cloud tensed and concentrated on the cold, putting to use the other Materia in his possession.  The Grunt roboman took aim, but Cloud hit him with a column of ice that seemed to fuse right to it.  The Grunt's joints stiffened.  Cloud raced down to the others, hoping he'd get there before the Grunt loosened up.  Ice was a dangerous spell to be hit with, especially when pressed for time.  Wedge had the door open for Cloud, and closed it to prevent the following inferno from catching them.

            Seconds later, the Mako Reactor in Sector 8 transformed into a pillar of flames, producing a giant mushroom cloud that was sure to get President Shinra's attention.

            Barret smiled in satisfaction.  There were those who would not understand his actions, but for those with any sense, this was a great day, and the start of what hopefully would be a career of success for AVALANCHE.


	2. Reunion

**II-Reunion**

            "Hurry up, will ya?"

            "Hold on, I've almost got it..."

            "They're gonna be sweepin' the area!"

            "Settle down, Wedge, it's set!"  Jessie wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.  "OK, everybody back!"

            In the back alleys of the Sector Eight Slums, a wall exploded violently outward.  AVALANCHE jumped out of the hole, scanning for possible threats.

            "There," Barret sighed, "Almost home free!  OK, split up!  Meet at the train station!"  With that, members went their separate ways.  Cloud decided following Biggs again couldn't hurt.  He walked through the main streets, wondering what repercussions the bombing would procure.  Shinra's troops would be looking for the culprits now...he'd have to be extra careful.

            "You!  Halt!"

            "DAMN!" he cursed, spinning around to face the two MPs, Shinra's police force.  Their machine guns were centered on Cloud's head.  He ducked around the corner before they could open fire.

            "Catch him!" one barked.  Cloud waited for the under trained MPs to race out into the open, and then mowed them down with a wide swing.

            Cloud ducked down an alley, weaving his way through the streets.  He collided forcefully with a flower girl, sending both of them sprawling.

            "Oye..." Cloud pulled himself to his feet, then looked down at the young flower merchant.  "Sorry about that."

            "It's okay," she replied quickly, gathering her flowers and taking his offered hand.  He pulled her to her feet, blushing somewhat.  "Thanks."

            "Yeah..." he felt like such an ass.  "Nice flowers."

            "Oh..?  Would you like one?  They're only a gil..."

            "Sure," Cloud payed for the rose, figuring it was the least he could do.

            "Thank you."  She went off to wherever she was headed before Cloud had crashed into her.  Torn between the problem of the Shirna Soldiers and the embarrassment of flooring the woman, he'd totally forgot to wonder how it was possible for flowers to grow in super-polluted Midgar.

            "Over there!" a squad of three MPs spotted him.  Their poorly aimed shots missed Cloud entirely, but they soon got too close for comfort.  Cloud darted down an alley to a street overlooking the train tracks.  How was he going to find the train station now?  He didn't know Sector 8 well enough.  MPs began to pour out.  Cloud raised the wide sword to deflect bullets everywhere, but he was becoming grossly outnumbered.

            The whistle of a train interrupted the shooting.  It appeared right behind and below Cloud.  All he had to do was jump...

            "Grab him!"

            That was that.  Cloud leapt onto the speedy train and hoped it was the right one.

            Biggs frowned.  He thought he'd seen Cloud tagging along behind him earlier, but he hadn't shown up at the station.  Jessie and Wedge were also a bit worried.  Everyone figured Cloud would stick around long enough to get his paycheck, like a somewhat intelligent mercenary.  What if he'd been caught?

            That was Barret's worry.  In his opinion, Cloud would sell them all out in exchange for his own safety.  The kid couldn't be trusted.  After all, he had been a part of Shinra.

            A resounding knock on the door snapped all of them out of their thoughts.  They stared at the door of a moving train, unwilling to believe that someone was actually there.  A louder knock prompted Jessie to swing it open.  Cloud swung quickly inside, startling all.  Jessie slammed the door shut.  

            "Good, you're alive!"

            "I try..." Cloud responded.  Barret glared at him.  

            "Jes like you!  Makin' everybody worry like that, an' you come in makin' a big show!"

            "Whatever..." Cloud was a little too tired to explain the ambush to Barret.

            "Whatever?  I'm takin it outta your paycheck, little man!  Let's go!"

            Barret, Biggs, and Wedge moved up into the main cars of the trains.  Cloud growled and started to follow, but Jessie stopped him with a snicker.

            "Ach, your face is pitch black!  You must've caught some soot."

            Yes, Cloud thought, he had, and his sneezes had been terrible.  He prayed silently that he'd gotten all the snot off his armor...

            "Lemme help..." she produced a rag and cleaned off Cloud's face, much to his embarrassment.  "Thanks for helping me back at the reactor."

            "Eh...it was nothing," Cloud replied.  Jessie hopped over some crates and followed Barret and the others.  Cloud did so as well.

            Barret was relaxed in his seat while Biggs and Wedge had apparently taken over the controls.  The conductor fumed in his own seat now.  Jessie went straight to the controls.  Cloud followed curiously.

            "Here is a map of Midgar," she explained.  "It's about a 1/100000 scale.  This train passes through several security checks on its way to Sector 7.  At these checkpoints, a scanning system checks the identity of everyone on board and compares with the Shinra's computer data banks.  If you're on board without an ID, you're screwed.  The Shinra are very proud of the system."  Then, quietly...  "Anyone can tell we look suspicious, so we're using fake IDs."

            "Smart," Cloud replied, though a bit worried.  Soon after, the train cars flashed red a few times.  
            "That was it," Jessie exhaled, "We're home free."

            Cloud took a seat near Barret.

            "Ya didn't do half bad there," Barret offered.  Cloud kept quiet.

            Conversation halted for the rest of the trip.  

            When the train stopped in Sector Seven, AVALANCHE were the first ones out.  The station was known as the Train Graveyard, since hundreds of scrapped cars made up a disgustingly close junkyard.  

            "Gather 'round!" Barret barked.  His team congregated by a lamppost.  "We did good this time, all of us!  But don't get scared of that explosion, cuz the next one's gonna be bigger!"  Smirks appeared on all faces except Cloud's.  "Lets head back to base, it's been a long night."

            Cloud chose to be the last in the group again.  He followed Wedge this time, though he knew the way back to AVALANCHE's base.  Sector Seven was no different than Sector Eight, a bunch of slums.  Not long through the piles of trash, Barret raced into a bar and unceremoniously booted everyone out.  Here it was, Tifa's Seventh Heaven.  The perfect place for a rebel group to hide in.

            Tifa herself was already chatting with and serving drinks to the other AVALANCHE members, an active member herself.  She was a young woman of about 20, 5'7, and gave new definition to the phrase "looks can be deceiving".  Her face was slightly angular, perfect to a point, and her smiles were glowing but her glares were poison.  Her arms and legs were built like steel, though not bulky with muscle.  Even so, she could decimate most opponents.  She wore tight black shorts and a white tank top that exposed her tough belly.  She smiled at Cloud, acknowledging his presence.

            As Cloud entered the bar, a small girl ran towards him, mistaking him for her father.  She halted and retreated back near Tifa.  

            "Aw, what's the matter?" she coaxed the girl, "Don't want to talk to Cloud?"

            "Uh..." she didn't need to reply.  Barret burst in, giddy with the success of his first real mission, which doubled when his daughter leaped into his arms.  "Daddy!  You're back!!!"

            "Heh heh," Barret gave his daughter Marlene a good hug and let her perch on his shoulder, "Of course!  An' Daddy showed them Shinra bastards a thing or two!"

            "Bang!" Marlene aimed her finger like her father's gun arm and giggled.

            "I take it you had fun?" Tifa Lockhart asked Barret with a wry smile.

            "Heh, as much as could be had." And Tifa knew what he meant.  It was on the news already, President Shinra announcing the bombing of the Sector 8 Reactor.  It was her first indication of AVALANCHE success, and she was very happy when everyone returned home safely.  However, explosions hurt.  And big ones kill.  This one had been huge, and had certainly taken many an innocent life.  That had been the only thing holding Barret back.  He'd convinced himself that this needed to be done, but Tifa doubted Barret would ever be able to put aside the casualties from his conscience.

            Barret took the drink Tifa offered him and barked orders.  "Get to the meetin' room after ya wind down.  We got another raid to plan!"

            Cloud was a bit shocked at that.  He'd known for a while that Barret planned to pull one bombing after the other, but he'd figured the strain of the first mission would change Barret's mind.  But the big man seemed determined and jumped onto the pinball machine in the corner of the room, Marlene gasping at the thrill of flight, throwing a hidden switch.  The pinball machine and floor around it sunk into the ground, deep into a hidden basement.  Barret sent it back up for the others when they were ready.

            Figuring to score a few brownie points with his old friend, Cloud offered her the rose he'd bought earlier.

            "Aw, for me?" she asked coyly.

            "Yep.  Try to keep it alive.        

            "Heh.  So, Cloud," Tifa examined him, "Break anything?"

            "Nope.  It wasn't really that hard of a mission."

            _Don't say that to Barret..._she didn't say.  "Did you fight with Barret?"

            Cloud grimaced.  "A little."

            "A little?"

            "We got along well enough to blow the place up."  He hoped that would be enough.

            "Ah..."  Tifa left it at that.  AVALANCHE had completely cleared the room, headed for the basement.  "Can I get you a drink?" she offered Cloud.

            "No, thanks," he turned to the pinball machine, "I have a few decisions to make."  He took the hidden path down as well, leaving Tifa to her thoughts.  Yes, he did have choices to make.  Once he got the paycheck for this mission, he planned to leave.  However, if Barret produced some hope for a similar mission to succeed, Cloud would gladly sign up.

            Jessie was already working on the bomb for the next night.  Biggs and Wedge were playing a card game and Barret was mutilating a punching bag with Marlene coaching him with her cheers.          

            Barret stopped punching long enough to utter a question to Cloud.  "So...did we go up against any SOLDIERS back there?  I figured you'd know."

            Cloud thought a bit.  "No.  Of course," he added, "If you were going up against SOLDIERS, you wouldn't be standing here now."

            Barret glowered.  "Don't act so damn big jes cuz you were one of Prez Shinra's lapdogs!"

            "Lapdogs?!" Cloud took offense instantly, "SOLDIER is a group of the most powerful warriors on the planet!"

            "Yep, maybe," Barret grinned, "But they still lapdogs for Hell's Company."  It was somewhat of a joke, since Shin-Ra meant "God's Company".  Barret still wondered how a man could get that last name...but you needed the hyphen to make it work.  

            Cloud turned to the television, trying to shut Barret out.  

            "Speak of the Devil," Biggs respectively flicked off President Shinra's image on the screen.

            "A few hours ago, the Mako Reactor in Sector 8 was destroyed.  The entire area is lacking power, and thousands of innocent lives were taken in the blast."

            "Don't believe it!" Wedge spoke at the visibly disturbed Barret, "There aren't even half that many people in the vicinity, and the explosion wasn't bad enough to reach more than a city block!"

            "Yeah..." Barret let out a long breath.  Shinra continued.

            "The terrorist group AVALANCHE has taken responsibility for the bombing, and has publicly displayed their joys in killing via spray paintings on city walls."

            "Killin?!  Hell no!" Barret growled, "But bet yer white ass we took joy in blowin yer reactor!"  A chorus of satisfied snickers filled the room.  Cloud rolled his eyes.

            "What you rollin yer eyes at, boy?" Barret thundered, "Annoyed that God's Company aint all that God-like?  Of course, bein their lapdog."

            "Godammit, Barret!" Cloud was past angry.  "For the last time, I-don't-care about the damn Shinra!  I don't care about SOLDIER!"  He turned for the ride back up to the bar.  He stopped and turned back on them.  "But don't get me wrong!  I don't give a rat's ass about AVALANCHE, or the planet for that matter!"  He hit the switch and was whisked upstairs.  Barret spun around and slammed the punching bag like a man possessed.  

            Tifa immediately knew something was wrong when Cloud appeared in the room.  

            "Whoa, where are you going?"

            "Wherever," he replied.  "Mercenaries tend to do this sort of thing."

            "What happened?" she persisted, moving towards him.

            "Nothing happened.  I'm just moving on."

            "So, you're just going to walk out?  Ignoring your childhood friend?"

            Cloud stopped dead in his tracks.  "How can you say that?" he demanded.

            "You don't remember?" Tifa gave him a somewhat disappointed look.  "No, you forgot."  
            "About what?" Cloud softened up a bit.  Tifa was indeed his childhood friend.  They'd known each other since Cloud was 13.  He could at least hear her out.  This time.

            "About the promise you made," she said, lowering her voice.  "All those years ago.  Remember...?  You asked me to come to the well that night."

            "Ah, I remember..." Cloud's mind returned to the cold night in his hometown of Nibelheim.  "You were late, and I was getting chilly."

            Cloud sat quietly on the rocks near the old well, waiting for Tifa to arrive.  He had something to talk to her about, a decision he'd made.  She arrived unnoticed, startling Cloud a bit.

            "Boo."

            "Heh..."   

            Tifa plopped down next to Cloud.  The ten year-old was wearing a silk dress, having failed to change into her more casual attire after a town celebration.  "So...you wanted to talk to me about something?"

            Cloud was silent for a moment.  He didn't even know if Tifa would care.  But they'd been friends for a long time now.  He wanted to tell her first.  "Come spring, I'll be leaving this town for Midgar."

            A hint of disappointment came from Tifa's eyes.  "All the boys are leaving this town for the city..." she replied.

            "But I'm different from all of them," Cloud continued, "I'm not just going to get a job.  I'm gonna join SOLDIER!"

            Tifa smiled a bit.  Such words from an eleven year-old kid were comical.  But Cloud had always been a headstrong boy.  Maybe he'd succeed.  "SOLDIER, the most powerful army in history."

            "I'll become famous, one of the best!" Cloud declared, "Just like Sephiroth!"

            "Sephiroth..." Tifa repeated the name to herself, amazed at the way the wind died down at the sheer mention of the SOLDIER champion.  "The Great Sephiroth..."  Tifa hadn't known Cloud to be a big fan of role models, but he had admired the work of that one warrior for quite some time.  Sephiroth, though quite young for his rank and abilities, was known around the entire world as the most powerful SOLDIER to ever live.  Sephiroth was always in the papers, and always had a new success to report.  The Shinra were very pleased with him, and thus advanced him through the ranks at lightning speed.  That was all Tifa knew about the man, but it was enough to convince her that Cloud had found a suitable role model.  

            "I...probably won't be able to come back for a long time," he said, more humble now.

            "Will you...be in the papers if you do well?" 

            "Probably."

            "...Hey..."

            "Hrm?"

            "Let's make a promise."

            Cloud gave her his full attention.  "What kind of promise?"

            "Oh..." she grinned a bit, "If you become famous, and I'm ever in a bind, promise me my hero will come and save me."

            "Huh?" Cloud looked right at her, "Are you planning something?"

            "Naw!" she giggled, "But come on!  I want to at least experience that once."

            "Okay," Cloud obliged, "I promise."

            "Now do you remember?" Tifa stared at the twenty-one year old Cloud and wondered just how much he'd changed.

            "I'm not a hero and I'm not famous," he said flatly, "I can't keep...the promise."

            "But you got your wish, didn't you?" she persisted, "You joined SOLDIER."

            "So I did..." Cloud was beginning to wonder why Tifa was so keen on keeping her eye on him.  Bringing up the "promise" had just been a method of making him stay put.  He severely doubted she needed him to baby-sit her, though.  Tifa had trained under a master martial arts man and packed devastating power in her fists.  

            Barret came up on the fancy pinball machine elevator, however, bringing the conversation to a halt.  He had calmed down a good deal, Cloud saw.  Barret walked right up to Cloud, fishing something out of his pocket.

            "Hey, man, a promise is a promise.  Here's yer money."  Barret put the bag of 1500 gil in Cloud's hand.  He pocketed it without so much as a blink.  Tifa cast one last hopeful look at him.

            _What the hell._  "You got the next mission lined up?" he said abruptly, startling Barret.  "I'll do it for 3000."

            "What?!  You crazy?" Tifa stopped Barret from going any further.

            "Come on!" she hissed in his ear, "We _are_ hurting for help, right?"

            "That money's for Marlene's schoolin'!" he hissed back.  Barret moved back towards the pinball machine and turned to Cloud.  "2000!"

            "Deal." Cloud smiled to himself.  Provided he survived this next mission, he'd be set for a while.  He might even stick with AVALANCHE long enough to build a small fortune.

            "Thanks, Cloud," Tifa said quietly after Barret had gone.  Cloud said nothing.  He turned and walked out of the bar, headed towards the shops.

            By the time Cloud arose the next morning, AVALANCHE was already wide-awake.  The fact that it was past four in the evening probably had something to do with that.  The entire team had slept late, hoping to be energized for the night.

            Cloud took the pinball machine up from the basement and was greeted by a cheery Tifa.  

            "How'd ya sleep?"

            "Barret's snoring kept me up..." he replied with a wry smile.

            "Erhem."  Barret walked slowly in from the outside of the bar.  He had clearly heard Cloud, but was smiling as if he'd met an old friend.  "Cloud!  Nice to see yer awake.  C'mere for a sec, wouldja?"

            Cloud looked briefly at Tifa, who just shrugged.  He went over to the table where Barret was sitting.

            "Yes?"

            "Well, this is...this is a lil embarrassin' and all, but...I found this last night."  He held out a small green orb for Cloud to see.

            "Materia..." the other breathed.

            "Yeah, that's what I thought..."

            "So what's so embarrassing?"

            "I...don't know how to use it..."

            Cloud smirked.  Barret at least knew that the powers of magic weren't restricted to SOLDIERS, else he wouldn't have asked.  "Well, kind sir, this is a stone that contains a spell or two.  You can always draw one spell from a Materia, but you need to use it often for the other spells to become available."

            "Nice.  What does this one do?"

            Cloud clutched the stone.  It made him feel comfortable, soothing his stiff neck, the result of sleeping between 3 other bulky men and having no room to move.  "This would be a Restore Materia," he explained.  "It's very useful to a group like AVALANCHE.  It'll recover your health and heal your wounds."

            "Sweet!"  Barret liked the sound of this.  "But...how do I use the damn thing?"

            "Most weapons nowadays are equipped with 'slots' for your Materia.  You just snap your Materia in and you can draw it through the weapon itself."  He took out his Buster Sword and managed to fit it onto the table.  "See?" he motioned to the twin holes filled with green stones.  "Lightning and Ice Materia.  Show me your weapon."  Barret laid a somewhat different gun-arm on the table.  "Eh?  What happened?"

            Barret smiled proudly.  "Jessie used the parts I stole from that big bug to modify my gun!   She even showed me how to do it."

            "Really..." Cloud tapped the hole on one side of the gun and snapped the Materia stone into it.  Immediately, Barret felt a bit more powerful.  "There.  Now you can cast spells that heal your allies."  Cloud read Barret's face.  "Okay, okay, I know, you don't like that.  Here."  He removed the Materia and gave Barret his Ice.  Cloud instead took over the Restore.  "Now, you can cast Ice spells?"

            "Great, Cloudobus, but how?"

            "Cloudobus...?" Cloud frowned.  Barret grinned a bit.  "Uh, ok.  This is the hard part.  You gotta concentrate.  I mean, really concentrate.  Think of nothin' but pure, immeasurable amounts of ice coursing through your target.  With any luck, it'll happen."

            "That's...it?!"  
            "Oh yes.  And DAMN, do you feel like a god when you pull it off.  Just don't get slaphappy with it.  Overuse will leave your mind strained.  You'll be catching your breath for hours."  Cloud grinned.  "Anyhow, I'm off for a bit."

            "Fine.  Be at the front of the bar in a half hour.  We're catchin' a train to Sector Five."

            "Right."

            Barret had reminded Cloud about his own status.  He made his way to the nearby armor shop and looked over the selection.  He got for himself an Iron Bangle to replace his crappy Bronze, and slapped it on immediately.  Bangles were armor pieces that enhanced your garments, thus increasing your vitality.  Then, thinking quickly, he bought two more, one for Barret and one for whoever else thought they'd like to fight.  He had a feeling Barret would be with him again.

            "Aye, dammit!" the shopkeeper cursed as a bluish stone cracked him upside the head.  He scooped it up and screamed at his son.  "Keep your damn marbles to yerself, sonny!  Here," he tossed it at Cloud, "Consider it a gift."

            Cloud smiled quickly, already feeling power coming from the "marble".  He walked out of the shop.

            What he'd obtained was a Materia, but not a normal one.  His sword had two slots, but they were linked to each other.  That meant that when he called upon the power of one Materia, it would mingle with the power of the joined Materia.  However, this seemed to only work with one type of Materia, the blue kind.  This one was an "All" type, rightly named because it was filled with an energy that did no harm but existed to expand.  Once released, it would flood an area, carrying with it the powers of a joined Materia.  Once Cloud got into the second reactor, he'd link the All to his Lightning, since most of Shinra's machines were susceptible to electricity.  He'd be able to clear entire rooms of the beasts!  

            With that thought came another.  Materia was not a rare item.  The shop owner could have made a few bucks by selling the All to the local Materia store.  In fact, it was only right down the road.  People in the slums had people out in the world that came back and stocked them with certain Materia common to the area.  Cloud went inside and found a few useful Materia, but he already had Ice and Lightning.  Fire caught his eye.  He still had money left from Barret's paycheck, which the big man had paid none too grudgingly, so he bought one.  He could not use the stone yet, since his slots were full.  He did have one open slot in his armor, but he'd save some Materia for the rest of AVALANCHE.  When he left the group, of course, he'd take all the Materia with him...

            When Cloud met his team in the gateway to the open slums, he was surprised to see Tifa waiting for him with Barret.

            "I'm going, too," she announced.  Cloud knew instantly why she was so happy this morning.  It must have been a while since she had any real exercise.  Nothing was wrong with her body, though, which was clear through her attire.  

            "Ah ha..." Cloud nodded, then handed her his Fire Materia, replacing it with the All.  "You know how to use this?"

            "I've done my homework," she replied, snapping the stone into the slot at the top of her brass-knuckle equipped glove.  Her kicks and punches wouldn't be very good against the machines, Cloud thought, but she should be able to take care of herself with the Fire.  

            "Well, what are we waiting for?" Biggs piped up with mock enthusiasm, "Let's go have another party!"  
            "Fireworks are gonna be great tonight, I hear," Barret grinned.


	3. Only the Stars Need Know

**III-Only the Stars Need Know**

            "Ouch!  Cheap janitorial systems from hell!!!"  
            "Trains in Midgar don't really have janitors, Wedge..."

            "Biggs, what did he do now?!"

            "Nothin, I did nothin!"

            "He sat on a tack."

            "Again?!"

            "Yup."

            Cloud almost smiled.  The train carried them towards Sector Five, where another Mako Reactor was waiting to die.  Jessie sat next to him, working on some kind of communicator.  She did love her machines.  But she appeared nervous.

            "Something wrong?"

            "Ah...I hope not...see, our fake IDs won't work this time."

            "Wuzzat?" Barret was suddenly interested.

            "The computers at Shinra HQ will be able to tell the IDs are fake.  The radiation from the checkpoint breaks up the code on the IDs unless the Shinra issued them.  So, in about five minutes..."

            "In five minutes," Barret declared, "We be jumpin' off this train!"  

            It was quiet for a while.  Cloud dared to express one of his doubts.

            "Barret..."  
            "Hrmph."

            "We're going into this one earlier than last time...will there be any cover?"  
            "Hah!  Cloud, look up."  He did.  "See?  That big pizza up there is 'THE PLATE'.  This city don't HAVE no day or night, cuz the plate blocks everything.  You wanna see the sun or the stars or the moon?  Move to the top!"

            "So...why don't people in the slums move up to the plate?"

            "Dunno.  Maybe they can't afford it.  Or maybe...maybe it's cuz they love their land, and wanna keep it no matter what the cost.  People are like that.  They believe in keeping what they have, and steering their life towards making it better.  One path."

            "I see...it's like this train...it can't go anyplace except where its rails take it."

            "Eh?"

            "What?"

            Barret sat back in his seat.  "Nothin.  I just didn't expect that outta someone like you.  You jes full of surprises."

            Another surprise hit them.  Flashing red lights.

            "Wha…what?!" Jessie was up instantly, followed by Tifa and Biggs.  Wedge hopped over to the controls, shoving the conductor out of the way.  

            "Uh oh...we...were a bit off in our guess..."

            "The hell you mean?!"  Barret raced up there.

            _WARNING.  WARNING.  UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ABOARD._

            "Shit!  Jessie, why didn't you know about this?!"  Barret was already planning the escape.

            "I didn't know!  My map must be...outdated..."

            _WARNING.  INITIATING LOCKDOWN OF CAR FOUR._

            "SHEE-IT!"  Barret wasted no more time.  He slammed the door open to the next car.  "LET'S GO, PEOPLE!!!"

            AVALANCHE darted into the next car.  Cloud pushed his way through the people, flooring an elderly.  _Damn, but it can't be helped_, he tried to reassure himself.

            _WARNING.  INITIATING LOCKDOWN OF CAR THREE._

            "Move!" Barret barked at the conductor of the car.

            "I...I can't let you pass!"

            Biggs slammed his fist into the back of the man's head, knocking him out.  He ripped off the conductor's coat and threw it on himself, before following AVALANCHE out just as the door slammed shut.

            _WARNING.  INITIATING LOCKDOWN OF CAR TWO._

            Cloud was halfway through when a punk collided with him purposely, snatching up some of his money.  

            "Forget it, Cloud!" Tifa called to him, "You don't have time!"

            "Like hell," Cloud grumbled.  He darted back to the punk and spun him like a top, right into one of the walls.  He stole back his money plus some, then just as quickly was back with his team.

            _Dammit, Cloud!  _Tifa wanted to say, _Grow up!_  She of course was forgetting that money was everything to a mercenary.

            _WARNING.  INITIATING LOCKDOWN OF CAR ONE._

            "Cloud!" Barret called from the final door, "Tifa!  Let's go!"

            Tifa was there and out in a flash.  Cloud glanced at Biggs, in a conductor's uniform, Wedge, in a commoner's outfit, and Jessie, disguised as a Shinra soldier.  He grinned a bit.

            "Let's GO, Thornhead!"

            "All right!  What about you?"

            "A leader always stays to the end!   Now, go or I'll push ya!!!"

            _Don't act so damn big, _he didn't say, before he leaped out of the moving train.  Barret followed suit.

            A tense minute followed as everyone caught his or her breath.  

            "Well..." Tifa gasped.

            "Yeah, well," Barret got up and gazed down the path the train had taken.  "It's not a long walk.  Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie will have everything ready for us!  So let's get moving."

            Cloud, Tifa, and Barret started moving at that.  

            "How long do you think it'll be?" Tifa asked Cloud.

            "Dunno.  I've never exactly led a parade alongside a subway before, and god knows what kind of freakish...things live here."

            Almost as if on cue, three odd looking creatures that looked like grasshoppers with claws leaped out, dragging their claws on Barret's arm.

            "#^@%!" Barret howled before letting a stream of un-aimed gunfire fly at the creatures.

            "Goddamn, Barret!" Cloud barked, "A-I-M!!!"

            Barret didn't listen.  He just kept shooting until all three were dead.

            "...."

            "...."

            "...Heh...lil prick...he shoulda known…I didn't have mah coffee this mornin..."

            "Riiiiiight," Cloud sighed, wondering if it was such a good idea giving Barret his Ice Materia.  _Popsicle a la Cloud,_ he thought drearily.  _Nah.  Tifa'd kick 'im in the nuts first.  Shouldn't get her mad at me..._

            They pressed on, Barret with a mad grin on his face, Cloud keeping his distance.  Four more beasties attacked.

            "THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS, BARRET!" Cloud screamed instantly, keeping the big man from going into gunfire spasms.  Cloud darted into one of the grasshoppers, slashing it in half, and then attacked another one.  He missed.  The buggy thing jumped at his face, but before it could eat his eyes, Tifa slammed it down with a downward swing of her fist, then kicked the thing clear across hell.  Barret dispatched the last two with his gun arm...how else?

            They continued without incident.  They didn't have to walk long, either.  Soon, they came across green security lasers barring their path.

            "Godammit!!" Barret growled, "This is one of Shinra's most foolproof security systems!  I didn't expect to find one o' these things in the frickin sub track."

            "It does guard entrance to the reactor…" Tifa pointed out.

            "And," Cloud observed as he knelt down to a small grate and lifted it up, "not entirely foolproof."

            "Huh?" Barret was appalled by the thought.  "You tellin' me to squeeze into that tiny little hole?!"

            "You wanna save the planet?" Cloud said in a monotone.

            "Bastard.  But all right…" Barret watched Cloud climb into the vent system, followed by Tifa, but Barret was much larger a being than them.  "Dammit!" he began the unpleasant task of fitting himself through the vent, "This just figures…"

            Cloud climbed down the ladder first, finding himself on a large platform high above the slums.  Tifa and Barret-cursing endlessly under his breath-came down soon after.  They spotted Wedge nearby, standing near a ladder leading back up, to the reactor no doubt.

            "Go on up!" he instructed them, "Jessie and Biggs are waiting."

            "Any sign of the Shinra?" Barret asked.

            "Not yet," Wedge replied, then hurried them up the stairs.

            Jessie was standing up there, watching the entrance to a certain vent.  She caught sight of them.

            "Sorry guys," she apologized, "the incident on the train was my fault.  I screwed up making the ID cards…"

            "No worries," Tifa grinned, "We'll win anyway!"

            Jessie just nodded, but Cloud could tell she was quite angry with herself.  At a loss for words, he passed her up and followed his team through the vent.  Barret was first out, and glad for it.  The vents were not exactly made to accommodate someone of his size.

            "Damn, finally!" Barret gasped, staring at the entrance to Mako Reactor No. 5.

            "Yep, about time!" Biggs greeted them.  "We're pulling out.  We'll see ya at the Headquarters."

            "Be careful," Tifa cautioned, "Shinra will be at full alert after that train incident."

            "Yeah, you too!"  Biggs darted off.

            "Shall we?" Cloud prompted.

            "Yes, let's."  With that, AVALANCHE proceeded to enter its second reactor in two days.

            Mako Reactor No. 5 was really no different in layout from No. 8, Cloud thought, looking around.  They had appeared by a large, long staircase leading upward, identical to the one in the last reactor.  And not an enemy in sight.  That was troubling.  Shinra should be ready for them.

            "Well?" Barret piped up, "Let's get this show on the road!"  

            The team continued through a door that would take them to the core of the reactor, the door being the same place where Cloud first demonstrated his Lightning Materia on some 1st Rays.  The scenery was the same: Mako charged waters below them, metal catwalks leading deep into the reactor, and pipes to walk across.  They'd gotten this far when hostility appeared.

            Grunts.  Three of them, just waiting to kill.  One raised its arm canons and let a few dozen little bolts of energy loose at the team.  Tifa wasn't used to combat just yet, and failed to duck like her two comrades.  She jumped back, stunned by the beams, then saw two similar waves flying at her.  This time, she did duck, while Barret opened fire on the ground, hitting all three creatures with stray bullets.  This provided an opening for Cloud to leap up and slice two of them in half.  The third hopped backwards and tried to fire again, but Barret filled its skull with lead before it could pull off another attack.

            "You OK?" Cloud asked Tifa, who was a bit humbled.

            "Y…yeah, I'm fine."

            Cloud smirked.  "Sorry you came?"

            "Heck no!  This is exciting."

            "And," Barret pointed out, "too late to turn back."

            They crossed the pipes with more ease this time, and climbed down the ladder to the catwalk below.  So identical, so easy.  Barret and Cloud both had their worries, but none were about to question their good luck.  Down the catwalk they went to the engine that powered the massive powerhouse.  Cloud set the bomb without incident this time, and to his surprise, no timer went off.

            "What's the deal?"

            "Oh!" Barret snickered a bit, "After our last episode, I had Jessie make the bomb remote activated.  That means we can blow it after we escape."

            Cloud looked hopelessly at Barret.  "WHY didn't you think of it before?"

            "Well!" Barret barked, "It just so HAPPENS that-why do you care?"

            "Guys!" Tifa sounded worried, "We've got bigger problems."

            "Ohhh hell," both men spun to look where Tifa had her eyes pasted, remembering what happened last time.

            Rather than a giant scorpion, however, there was a Security Sweeper speeding down the catwalk.  These things looked like little bulldozers with machine guns, specializing in firepower.  Barret immediately met it with gunfire, keeping it back.  Cloud stood there, gathering power for his Bolt spell.  Tifa watched him, and thought about fire, putting to use the Materia Cloud had given her.  Cloud's lightning touched home, distracting Tifa from her thoughts.  The Fire spell she was about to cast died on her fingertips, but that was fine.  Barret handled the short-circuited machine with his gun-arm.

            Cloud was getting antsy.  "Let's move!  God knows how many more of these things are waiting around.

            They made their way back to the ladder, climbed it up to the pipes, crossed back to the top of the area, and paused to catch their breath.  Machine gun fire interrupted their break, startling all three.  Another Sweeper had spotted them.  Cloud blocked the oncoming bullets with his sword, while Barret returned fire.  The Sweeper chose Barret as its target and directed fire towards him instead of Cloud.  Lacking a shield, Barret threw himself to the floor, but not before a shell caught him in the shoulder.  The Iron Bangle that he wore around his wrist made it possible to come out of the attack unharmed, but aching.  

            Tifa had been busy.  This time, her Fire spell erupted around the Sweeper, toasting it a bit.  Cloud's Bolt finished it off.

            "Congratulations on your first successful magic spell," Cloud grinned.

            "Heh, it felt good," Tifa was suddenly battle hungry.  Barret made a mental note to try his own Materia.

            The team of terrorists made their way to the long staircase and started their ascent.  Cloud expected the attacks to come heavily now, but there was nothing, save for a lone Grunt that Barret froze with an Ice spell.  He'd created monsters, Cloud thought with a small smirk.  Once at the top of the staircase, there was an elevator, as predicted.

            "Victory again!" Barret laughed as soon as they were inside.

            "Don't be sure," Cloud frowned.  "I think it was too easy.  Be on your guards."

            Barret shook him off.  "Tifa?  Wassup?"

            "Nothing…" She sounded lost in thought.  "I just…I'm starting to feel a little bad about…you know, the explosion, what it'll do…"  
            Barret clenched his teeth.  His excitement died down a bit as he realized that he'd kill more innocents as soon as he detonated that bomb.  "I know…it's hard.  But it's for the good of the planet, Tif'."

            "I know, I know…it just doesn't seem to excuse murder, though…"  
            "No," Barret said sternly, "Don't think of it as murder."

            "What then?" Cloud couldn't resist, "Casualties?"

            Barret's glare was poison.  "You think I enjoy killin'?"

            "No!" Tifa stopped them both.  "Barret, I understand why."  A new thought stung her.  "Man…if anyone knew who we were, we'd never stop being the enemy…"

            "What?" Cloud was confused.

            "Think, man!" Barret ordered, "Shinra, Inc.'s got everyone thinking they're all righteous and good.  We're the bad guys!  You heard Prez Shinra last night!  We're continuing our 'reign of terror'.  People want us dead."  He turned to Tifa.  "Don't worry, though.  Only AVALANCHE and the stars know who we are and what we're doin', and that's plenty as it is."

            Tifa nodded.  The elevator came to a halt and the doors slid open.  AVALANCHE found themselves in a room with three gates, again like the first reactor.  To open all three gates, there was a control console with three buttons.  The team gathered round.

            "Whatzis?" Barret poked the button a few times.

            "Oh!" Tifa piped up, "Jessie said we'd have to push some buttons at the same time.  Think these are it?"

            "Let's give it a try," Cloud took charge, "On the count of three!  One, two…"  At Cloud's voice, all three buttons went down and all three gates opened.

            "Shazam!" Barret whooped, "Now let's blow this joint!"  The trio moved through all the gates to find themselves on a triple catwalk over the slums, adjacent to the reactor.  Wedge had stood guard at a place like this on the last mission.  Immediately, Cloud knew something was wrong.

            As the team moved towards freedom, Cloud's doubts were confirmed.  A detail of Shinra's red-clad soldiers met them and forced them back.

            "What the _hell_?!" Barret was furious.

            "A trap…" Cloud breathed, "I knew it was too easy!"  They all turned tail and ran back the way they had came from the soldiers, who did not follow.  Cloud soon saw why.  Another detail met them, armed and dangerous.

            "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…" Tifa didn't like this at all.  AVALANCHE was trapped in the middle of the catwalk, and the third path quickly became un-preferable.

            Footsteps echoed through the silence created by the Shinra guards' immobility and AVALANCHE's petrified state.  Barret looked towards the sound and nearly reeled in disbelief as he beheld a man he hated with all his strength and might, a man with universal power, a man Barret Wallace had pledged to destroy.

            "P…President Shinra?!" Barret gasped loudly and none too angrily.

            Tifa exhaled loudly and Cloud's eyes widened with recognition as he stared at the small, middle- aged man that was hailed as the world's king.

            "Greetings, AVALANCHE!" Shinra greeted them cheerily, "I've been wanting to meet you.  There is much I have to say."

            "Ditto for us, pal!" Barret would not be held back, "Soon, this place is gonna go _BOOM_ and you with it!"

            "And such a waste of good fireworks, just to get rid of vermin like you," Shinra stated flatly.

            "Vermin?!  Who you callin' vermin, you jackass!" he was inches away from opening fire on the President, Cloud saw, and judging from the way the two platoons of guards were looking at them, that would be a bad thing.  So, he stepped in.

            "Hello again, Mr. President."

            Shinra stared at Cloud a bit, then caught his eyes.  "Ah!  A SOLDIER."

            "Ex-SOLDIER," Cloud stated proudly.

            "Hmm," Shinra acknowledged with a nod, "What was your name again?"

            "It's Cloud."

            "Ah, Cloud.  I apologize, but I can't be expected to remember everyone's name.  Unless you become another Sephiroth, of course."

            Cloud did not bother to point out what had happened with Sephiroth.

            "Well, it was a pleasure," the small, round man in the ruby suit coat with balding blonde hair concluded politely, "but now I must be leaving.  I have a dinner I must attend."

            "Like HELL!" Barret took aim, "You ain't goin' no where!  I got things I wanna say to you!"

            "Tell them to my friend," Shinra grinned evilly, taking out a small remote control.  On the push of a button, a large, bulky machine that hovered off the ground sped down the catwalk as Shinra hopped up into a lowering helicopter, which promptly gained altitude.  Cloud had to throw himself off the catwalk-holding on for dear life-to avoid being mowed down.

            "His name is Airbuster!" Shinra called down, "He's a 'technosoldier'.  Our Weapon's Development team created him.  I'm sure the data he'll extract from your dead bodies will be most useful!"  With that, President Shinra's helicopter lifted off and the platoons withdrew from the area.

            Cloud hoisted himself back onto the catwalk and ran back to the other path, right behind Airbuster, which was busying itself preparing to kill Barret and Tifa.

            "Yo, Cloud!" Barret called out, "We gotta do somethin' about him!"

            Cloud responded by slamming his Buster Sword into Airbuster's back.  The side guns on the machine whirled around and opened fire on Cloud.  Surprised, he was unable to avoid the attack.  Once more, the Bangle which held a small defensive field around him saved his life.  Cloud had missed the guns, he wouldn't make the same mistake twice.  Barret was firing at Airbuster's front end while Tifa worked on casting Fire spells.  Fire did little to the creature, but it was better than just pounding it.  It _was_ made of metal.  Cloud worked on a Bolt spell.  It contacted with Airbuster's back, jolting the technosoldier good.  It's hover jets whirred and hummed, and it turned to face Cloud.  Cloud immediately lambasted it with a good cut from his sword, but Airbuster countered with a spray of energy particles that made Cloud think twice about getting too close.

            Tifa had punched Airbuster once, and that had been enough for her to realize it wasn't worth it. But, noting that the armor on Shinra's assassin was charred from Cloud's bolts, she slammed her fists into it.  This time, it was different.  It felt like she was actually getting somewhere.  Barret noted this and called to Cloud.

            "Hey!  Attack the back when ya get a chance!  It's weak!"

            Airbuster, tired of the beating it was receiving, spun around again.  Tifa dashed up to the side gun on Airbuster's left and brought her leg up high, crashing it down on the joint that held it to Airbuster's torso.  She then punched it with all her force at point blank, damaging it even more.  Suddenly, the gun went off, hitting Tifa's Bangle at point blank, breaking it immediately.  Tifa gasped and jumped back, narrowly avoiding another such attack.  Barret finished the gun off for her, however, but took a few rounds in the gut for his efforts.  His metal band saved him yet again.

            Airbuster stiffened.  Then it opened a hatch on its chest.  A large missile flew out and crashed into the ground before a startled Tifa and Barret.  The explosion floored them both, and hurt Tifa dearly.  Both gasped audibly for breath.

            Cloud was shocked, but not cowed.  He worked quickly, ripping the Lightning Materia from the slot in his sword and likewise with the Restore, switching them so the Restore was paired with the All.  Cloud then began concentrating on healing powers, on renewed strength.  The Restore Materia glowed slightly, and its glow lit up the air around Cloud.  The All's powers that seeped out with the Cure spell worked very fast, expanding, forcing the magic to spread out, almost hungrily devouring area.  Tifa and Barret let out a relieved sigh as they felt their wounds heal.  They stood, feeling quite energized.  

            Airbuster had spent this time twisting around once more to face Cloud.  He met the mercenary with ammunition from its working gun.  Cloud flattened himself, playing dead, but didn't have to wait long for Airbuster's attention to be redirected.

            Tifa felt great power surging through her, energy she simply had to get rid of.  She stared at Airbuster's exposed back, channeling all her fury to her fists.  She rushed at the machine and beat the back soundly, creating clangs that echoed through the whole area.  As the last punch fell, Tifa leaned back and let her feet leave the ground, bringing them up into the armor in a great blow, then spinning them over her head and down to solid ground.  Her somersault finished the weakened armor and it clattered to the floor.  Airbuster turned quickly to face the two attackers, ready for revenge.

            Cloud poised his sword to strike, but Barret cut him off.

            "Hold on, man!"  Before Cloud to object, Barret let a blast of Ice into Airbuster that stiffened its joints.  Cloud smiled and raced at the exposed internals of the Airbuster, slashing into its back over and over.  Airbuster's turning was slowed drastically, but it didn't matter.  Cloud hit a nerve somehow.  Airbuster sparked gloriously, Cloud wisely jumping back.  The curtain of electricity grew larger, until Airbuster violently exploded, tearing a massive hole in the catwalk.

            Barret and Tifa flew back, landing safely near the exit of the reactor.  Cloud, however, found himself singed and holding on to a few spare wires that were left of the battleground.

            "Cloud!" Tifa cried, bending down, "Are you all right?"

            "Yeah!" he called back.

            Barret drew a sharp breath.  This wasn't good.  He didn't exactly have any rope on him.  Somehow, Cloud was gonna have to climb up.

            "Yo!" AVALANCHE's commander called, "You gonna be all right by yourself?"

            "I'll get out of it, trust me!" Cloud sounded less confident than usual, Barret noted sadly.

            "Wait," Tifa started, "What if we…"  Whatever she was about to say was interrupted by a great explosion.  Fire swirled around the outside of the reactor, a testimony to the explosion that had just occurred.  This wasn't right!  Barret hadn't detonated his bomb!  

"The Shinra!" he spat, confusing Tifa.  THEY had done this!  They'd PLANNED it this way!  Airbuster would self-destruct, and bombs would go off.  No way to live.  

A second blast, larger than the first, dropped Tifa and Barret, and, to their horror, jolted Cloud off his wire.  The mercenary let out a startled cry as he began his involuntary decent.  

            "Cloud!" Tifa cried out, Barret pulling her away, escape the only thing on his mind, "CLOUD!!!"

            Her cries died in the wind, never reaching Cloud's ears as he fell farther, farther, farther…until…

            All Cloud would ever remember was a big _thump._


	4. Flowers

IV-Flowers 

            "W…what happened…?"

            _You live._

            "Wha?!  Who are you?"

            _Don't you remember?_

            "Oh…yeah."

            _ Back then…you could get by with just skinned knees._

            "Huh…?"

            _Hey, shouldn't you be getting up?_

            "Ah…right!"

            The flower girl frowned again, staring in quite some disbelief at the spiky headed kid who'd fallen through the roof of "her" church and destroyed most of her flowerbed.  She'd been quite frightened when she heard the explosions.  AVALANCHE had promised more attacks, and she'd prayed that the reactor above her little niche wouldn't explode and kill her.  She'd nearly had a heart attack when the roof shattered and a human being fell down towards her.  At first, she'd taken him for the dead, but upon closer examination, he was very much alive.  How, Aeris Gainsborough asked herself, was that possible?

            "Oh, it moved…" she said quietly as the young man began to stir.

            He sat up slowly, rubbing his head.  He had to ache a good deal, Aeris thought, and the look on his face was indeed not one of pleasure.  He opened his eyes.  Aeris reeled; his eyes blazed green, Mako Green.  A SOLDIER. Aeris was immediately on guard.  Had this one been sent to stop the terrorists above?  If so, would he recognize her?  Aeris prepared to run if necessary.

            But when the young man saw her, she detected no recognition in his eyes.  She knew, however, very suddenly, who he was.  The one from the other night, he'd crashed into her.  He was running from the bombed reactor, not to it.  So, now she was dealing with one of AVALANCHE.  How fun.

            "Um," she spoke, "Are you OK?"

            The young man looked around.  "I…guess.  Who are you?"

            She helped him to his feet.  "You don't remember me?"

            "You're the slum drunk," he did not dare say.  How did he know her?  Maybe they saw each other on the street one day?  How could she expect him to remember?

            OH.  He realized it all as he saw the flowers beneath his feet.  The flower girl!  

            "I remember," he finished quickly.

            She laughed quietly.  "I think my flowers broke your fall."

            "They did…?" The man, suddenly aware of himself, leaped back and off the crushed bed of color.  "Oh, I'm sorry!" he apologized, "I, well…it's been a little hectic."

            "Well, I guess!"  She tended to the surviving flowers.  "Don't worry about it.  No one died."  

            The blonde puzzled over the whole area.  The girl before him was about his height, with a pretty face and eyes full of emotion.  She was wearing a pink dress with a rose colored vest.  Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a large ponytail held in place by a bow surrounding an orb of…

            "You have Materia?" the man asked her. 

            "Yep."

            "What does it do?"

            Aeris looked right at him and said flatly, "Nothing."

            "Nothing?"

            "Yep."

            He frowned.  "You probably just don't know how to use it."

            "Oh, I know how," she grinned, "But this one just doesn't do anything.  It's been passed down my family.  Some kind of heirloom."

            The young man nodded, the looked at the flowers.  "I didn't know flowers could grow in the slums."

            She paused, thinking.  "They shouldn't be able to, but here…in this church, I never have a problem.  She stood.  "So, what's your name?"

            He paused before answering.  "It's Cloud."

            "Cloud, huh?  I'm Aeris.  Nice to meet you."

            Cloud nodded.  "You sell flowers?"  
            Aeris nodded in turn.  "I make more money off it than you may think.  What do you do?"

            Again, he paused.  "I do a little of everything."

            "Oooh, a Jack-of-all-Trades!" she got to her feet.  Conversation ran dry as they both began to notice a third presence in the church.

            Cloud and Aeris both turned to face a man dressed in dark clothing at the entrance to the Church.  Recognition hit Cloud like a brick, but it made no sense.  Why would THEY be here?

            "So, Cloud…" Aeris sounded less energetic all of a sudden, "Have you ever been a bodyguard before?  You DO do everything, don't you?"

            Cloud smirked.  "Maybe."

            She got serious all of a sudden.  "Then get me out of here.  Take me home!"

            "It's gonna cost you."

            "How bout…" she giggled coyly, "Hmm.  What if I go out with you once?"

            "Sounds fair," Cloud grinned inwardly before moving towards the man, who was soon joined by three of the Shinra Military Police.  The MPs watched Cloud carefully, smirking as he approached.  To them, this was just another pawn Aeris had turned up.  The leader of the pack, a man in a midnight blue suit-coat around a white T-shirt he'd failed to tuck in, did not appear so cocky.  He had seen Cloud's eyes.  

            "I know who you are," Cloud said to the man, "You're with Shinra's Intelligence Agency, the Turks."

            "Heh heh," one of the MPs snickered, "Smart boy.  Hey, Reno!  You want him taken out?"

            The Turk smiled a thin smile, gazing at Cloud with ebony eyes.  "I haven't decided yet."

            "No!" Aeris called from the back of the church, "Not here, you'll screw up the flowers!"

            Cloud took the opportunity to follow Aeris through the door in the back.  Reno watched him leave, than ran a hand through his ruby colored hair.  "They were…Mako eyes."  
            The MPs stiffened at that.  Reno moved forward to the patch of flowers Cloud had upset earlier, crossing them carefully, giving orders.

            "Come on.  Catch 'em this time, got it?!"  He stopped when he had passed over the flowers, but then ran back.  "Oh, yeah!  And don't step on the flowers!"  
            "Heh heh heh," all three snickered in unison.  Reno cursed quietly and moved through the door as his three lackeys chided.

            "Hey, Reno!"

            "You just stepped in them!"  
            "You're gonna catch holy hell!"

            Cloud and Aeris moved through the back of the church swiftly, hoping to ditch the Turk and his gang before they had to do any real fighting.  Cloud had given Aeris the Lightning Materia he carried for her Guard Stick, a long metal pole, but the All was useless, since only Cloud's weapon had joined Materia slots.  

            They ran up stairs to the upper floor, where Aeris claimed she knew of an exit.  Cloud hopped across a gap in the floor, over a large pipe.  

            "The Ancient is getting away!" Reno's voice filled the area, "Stop them!"

            "Come on!" he called to Aeris.  The flower girl suddenly looked nervous.  She stepped back and got ready, but her concentration and footing were both ruined when a hail of bullets crashed into the floor in front of her.  Aeris let out a startled cry and tumbled off the side of the broken floor, landing on the pipe and rolling down to the basement of the church.

            "Think we killed 'em?" Reno said with a bit of nervousness, "They shouldn't have put up a fight, I say!"

            Ancient?  Cloud was confused, and growing angry.  The Turks did not usually specialize in sparing lives.  Why did Reno want Aeris alive?  Was this some kind of game?

            In either case, Aeris was calling up for help.  The three MPs were closing in on her.  Above Cloud were three barrels sitting on precariously thin planks of wood.  He might be able, with some great luck, to send them down on the MPs, but he'd have to be careful.

            His thoughts were broken off by the sound of electricity below.  He looked down, alarmed, to see one of the MPs shaking like a baby rattle, sparks still flying from his body, and Aeris running to a ladder.  Promptly, another MP leaped down to confront her.  Aeris leaped away from the man's machine gun, which he was wielding like a club.  

            "Come on, sweetie," the MP said sickeningly, "Give it up!  You wouldn't want me to put a bullet in that pretty little head of yours, would ya?"

            "You wouldn't kill me," Aeris said flatly.

            "Would I…?" the MP licked his lips.  Aeris narrowed her bright green eyes and leaped towards the MP, stopping at the last minute as the officer held up his gun in defense.  She fell and lashed out with her staff, catching the MP in a very vital area.  He cried out and doubled over, Aeris bringing her rod down on his head.  He crumpled up and Aeris started up a ladder.  Both Cloud and Reno observed this, more than a little impressed.  

            The third MP hopped down from his perch onto a broken staircase and started moving up to where Aeris had climbed.

            Cloud was quite ready, though.  He had scaled the church and was now aiming one of the barrels down towards the landing where Aeris stood.  

            "Incoming!" he called down.  Aeris pressed herself against the wall, just in time.  The barrel slammed into the ground in front of her and rolled the opposite direction…down the staircase and into the horrified MP.  Both tumbled down to the basement with a great crash.

            Aeris raced up the stairs back to the gap she'd fallen through earlier and hopped across quickly this time.  Reno himself was finally moving, climbing the stairs as Aeris started on another set, meeting Cloud at the top.  The two inched across more thin planks of wood that hung below the roof of the church.  

            "There!" Aeris pointed to a large hole on the roof, a plank of wood leading up to it.  Cloud nodded and waited for Aeris to scale the wood and hop out of the church to safety before turning and bringing his sword down into the wood he stood on.  He sliced clear through it, meeting Reno's eyes as the Turk appeared at the far end of the wood.  Cloud moved up the plank of wood through the hole, then turned and slammed the wood again, destroying the remaining support.  A section of the wood path fell down to the floor of the church into Aeris' flowerbed.  The gap was too wide for Reno to jump.  Cloud smirked at the man before turning and exiting the church.  Reno said nothing, but the look in his eyes had promised Cloud they'd meet again.

            Cloud and Aeris caught their breath atop the church.  The explosions at the reactor, the fall from the skies, and the attack in the church had cluttered up Cloud's mind.  Now that he was able to stop and think for a bit, old worries returned.  Where were Barret and Tifa?  Were they all right?  What about Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie?  Had they escaped?

            Then came the present worries.  Cloud knew very well who Reno of the Turks was, and he was not a very nice man.  The Turks were a brutal band, involved in all kinds of black ops for Shinra.  Why did they want Aeris?  Time for some questioning.

            "That was close," Aeris breathed, "Thanks Cloud!"

            "Yeah…"  He stared back through the hole in the roof.  "They were from Shinra's Intelligence Agency.  They call themselves the Turks."

            "What kind of a name is that?"

            "I don't know."  He looked her over.  "The Turks scout for possible candidates for SOLDIER.  They're also involved in a lot of dirty stuff on the side."

            "Like…?" Aeris was suddenly on edge.

            "Kidnapping, murder, theft and the like."

            "Nice bunch."

            "So…why were they after you?"

            Aeris sighed.  "I don't rightly know.  Maybe they think I have what it takes to be in SOLDIER."

            Cloud gave her a thin smile.  "Would you join?"

            "I don't know.  But I don't want to get caught by THOSE people."

            "…This has happened before."

            "Oh, many times.  But I'm used to it.  Can we get out of here now?  Before he comes?"  Cloud nodded and they both moved to the edge of the roof.  The Sector 5 Slums were easily navigated from the roofs, since they were all level to one another.  Cloud hopped easily along the roofs but as he caught sight of a residential area, he heard Aeris call out.  "Hold on!"  She caught up, breathing heavily.

            "I thought you had what it takes to be in SOLDIER."

            "Oh!  You're terrible."  Aeris shook her head, but laughed.  "My house is over there," she motioned to the area Cloud was headed, "Let's go!"  The hopped off the roofs onto dirty Midgar soil.  

            Cloud found himself in a circular area full of trashy trailers that served as homes and a large building at the center of the area.

            "Shops," Aeris explained.  Cloud made a mental note to return there after he got Aeris home.  He continued around the area, stopping by a large TV screen that hovered above the rooftops, broadcasting Shinra's low-grade television.  Nearby there was a pipe leading into a small nook in the massive walls that formed the "circle". 

            "What's in there?"

            Aeris paused.  "The man who lives there is very sick.  He was found in the Sector 6 slums.  All he says is 'Ugh, ahhh, urk'."  She shook her head.  "It's sad."

            Cloud nodded and pulled away from the area, moving towards a lighted path.  "You live in this place?"

            "No," she pointed down a lit path.  "I live down there."

            Cloud nodded and they started that way.  Once through the small tunnel, Cloud froze in his tracks.  

            He was standing outside a nice house with a huge garden behind it, full of flowers of all sorts of colors and types.  The place was beautiful, the best thing Cloud had seen in years, and in Midgar period.

            Aeris smiled.  "You like it?"

            Cloud just nodded.  "Can I see the garden?"

            "Sure!" Aeris replied happily, leading him behind her house into the colorful maze.  Aeris explained to Cloud what each of the flowers were, though she didn't know much herself, and where she had found them.  Gardening was a hobby of hers, something she took up to pass time, and had eventually become addicted to the colors they produced.  Indeed, this small area seemed to glow with more light and warmth than anywhere else in Midgar.  

            "This place is…amazing!" Cloud said when they had finished, "I had no idea flowers could survive in Midgar, but…the church, here…it's beautiful."

            "Thank you, kind sir," Aeris bowed dramatically.  "Come on inside."

            Cloud took up the invitation and followed her inside.  He stood in a large room that served as a kitchen and family room, though he detected no signs of family.  A long set of stairs led upward.  Cloud guessed that it was only a two-story structure.

            "Mom!" Aeris called out, "Mom, I'm home!"

            A woman dressed in yellow garments and a green apron came descended the staircase.  She looked fortyish, with a dark head of hair in contrast to Aeris' much lighter brown.  Her eyes were brown, whereas Aeris' were green.  Put simply, Cloud did not detect much resemblance between what he took for mother and daughter.

            "Good to see you, dear," she said to Aeris, "And who is this young man?"

            "This is Cloud!" Aeris let her guardian get a look at him, "He's my bodyguard.  He got me home."

            "Did you, now?" the woman smiled gratefully, "I appreciate you looking after her, Cloud."  She stopped, catching his eyes.  She quickly dismissed it.  "My name is Elmyra."

            "Nice to meet you," Cloud nodded politely.  He wasn't much used to this, but thought he was doing all right.

            "I'm going take care of some things upstairs," Elmyra announced, "Thanks again, Cloud."  The woman made her way back up, leaving Cloud and Aeris alone.

            "So, Cloud, where will you go now?"

            Cloud was jolted a bit.  He'd almost forgotten about AVALANCHE.  "I have to get back to Sector 7."

            "Sector 7?  From here, you can get there rather quickly, but you'll have to cut through the Sector 6 slums."

            "Where are they?"

            "I'll take you.  It's a confusing place, and a bit dangerous."

            "Dangerous?  Aeris, I appreciate it, but I really don't want you in any…"

            "Danger?" she finished.  "It's okay.  I grew up in the slums running from Turks.  I'm used to danger."  She moved to the stairs while Cloud grimaced.  "Mom!  I'm taking Cloud to Sector 7!  I'll be back later!"  
            "Whoa, hold it," Elmyra called back, coming halfway down the stairs to face the two.  "You just got back!  And don't you have to go through Sector 6?"

            "Yes," Cloud spoke before Aeris.

            "I'll be FINE!" the flower girl protested.

            Elmyra sighed.  "There's no arguing with you, dear.  All right, but can you at least get some sleep first?"

            "Okay."  Aeris conceded.  She glanced at Cloud.  "Um…mom?"

            "Yes," Elmyra nodded, "Go make Cloud's bed."

            Aeris went upstairs after rolling her eyes.  Cloud frowned.  He hadn't thought it would go this far.  He really didn't want Aeris to come with him; he didn't want that responsibility.  Her mother solved that problem quickly.

            "Excuse me, but…" Elmyra said, sheepishly, "Your eyes, they glow…were you from…SOLDIER?"

            "Yes, ma'am," Cloud replied, uneasy.

            "I…I really don't know how to say this but…could you please leave here?  Tonight?  Without telling Aeris?" she added quietly.  Then, quickly, "I really appreciate what you did for her, but she doesn't need her feelings hurt again."

            "I understand," Cloud nodded.

            "Thank you," Elmyra turned away.

            A few hours later, Cloud opened his eyes.  He was in the small room adjoining Aeris's, where he'd laid down to rest…

            _Must have dozed off,_ he realized.  He started to turn over, more sleep on his mind, but Elmyra's request popped back into his head.  Oh, yeah.  He had to get to Sector Seven, back to the bar.

            Cloud carefully sat up.  Slight noises caught his attention, coming from the next room.  Aeris was still awake.  He'd have to be quiet, here.  Cloud stood and grabbed his Buster Sword.  He strapped it to his back and crept out of the room, taking care to make sure he didn't make the floor creak.  He reached the stairs and quickened his pace until he was out of the house and back in Sector 5.

            Cloud found himself in the ring of shops again, but he passed them all by.  He didn't have much money on him, and he might need that later.  Something, however, drew him to the large pipe in which a sick man lived.  Maybe it was curiosity, maybe it was sympathy, Cloud didn't know.

            He was there, a tough looking man, yet so weak.  His breaths were wheezes and his eyes were glazed over.  Upon seeing Cloud, he muttered words that could be taken for a greeting, though Cloud could not comprehend them.  Shaking his head, the mercenary turned to leave, but caught sight of a tattoo on the man's hand.  "15" was embedded into his skin in a color dark as night.  Cloud shuddered; something about it was eerily familiar.  He turned tail and left before anything else caught his attention.

            The path to Sector 6 was short, and Cloud easily remembered it.  However, still somewhat asleep, he did not notice some short, maroon insect/beasts lurking around the trash.  Two leaped out at him, slashing at his side.  Cloud let out a yelp and brought out his sword while yanking out an insect whose claws were stuck in his armor.  He removed the violent thing-about as big as his arm!-and swatted it with the broadside of his weapon.  He swung his sword in a complete circle, taking out the rest of the swarm.  Vicious little buggers.

            eHe HHe had been delayed.  Cloud continued down the path to the tunnel that would lead him to Sector 6, the gateway to Sector 7 and his new home.  When he got there, however, he saw something that in his mind was quite inconceivable waiting for him.  Aeris.

            How could she have gotten there sooner?  How had she evaded him?  

            "You're up bright and early," Aeris smiled.

            "How could I ask you to come along when I knew it would be dangerous?"

            "Don't _worry _about me!" Aeris insisted, "I can take care of myself!  Her metal staff appeared as if to testify to that fact.  "I know the way to Sector 7 better than anyone here.  Come on!"

            Before Cloud could protest, Aeris hurried through the tunnel into Sector 6, the Ruined Land.  Cloud shook his head and followed.  He had a feeling Aeris would be more of a help than anything.  Besides, she was kind of cute.


	5. Don of the Slums

V-Don of the Slums 

            For all who knew it, Sector 6 was the Ruined Land.  A cave in years ago involving the failure of a support pillar had destroyed most of the slum, and what remained fit for traveling though was only barely so.  The path through Sector 6 was littered with ravenous insect creatures of the sort Cloud had fought earlier, and other mutated beasts.  

            Cloud slammed his sword into a pile of trash and hopped up on top of it, using it as a step.  He climbed over the top of the pile and helped Aeris up.  Then they both worked to retrieve the large weapon.  Next, they had to cross over a steel beam over a gap in the ground.  To Cloud, this was an obstacle course and nothing else.  To Aeris, it was a challenge, but a challenge she had mastered many times before.  They crossed carefully, reaching the other side in one piece.

            "Still think I should go home?" Aeris quipped.  

            "Now," Cloud grinned slightly, "Try to see things as I do.  You get hurt, your mom gives me hell!"

            She laughed.  "Nah.  She's used to me being in danger, and it gives her something to do when she nurses me back to health."  It was only half a joke.

            "Aeris," Cloud asked, "Why exactly _do _the Turks want you?"

            She hesitated, and Cloud had a feeling the next sentence wouldn't be truthful.  He was right.  "I told you.  They must think I'd be a decent candidate for SOLDIER."  But hadn't her mother asked Cloud, at one time a SOLDIER, to disappear?  Aeris was hiding something, but Cloud sensed she really didn't want to talk about it.  

            Before Cloud could change the subject, Aeris gasped suddenly and pointed towards a house.  But it wasn't just a house.

            "Cloud…I, ah, I've never seen one of those before."

            "Be careful," Cloud warned, poising his sword.  The miniature house hopped, actually _hopped_ towards Cloud and Aeris, and for some reason Cloud didn't think it wanted to play nice.

            Aeris sensed the same thing.  She whispered quietly to herself, and a curtain of green energies surrounded her.  She launched the Fire spell right in the house's face, quietly thanking Cloud for the Materia swap.  Cloud ran at it and smashed his sword into the burning creature, ripping clear through it.  The house shuddered, and instinct told Cloud to jump back.  Sure enough, the house exploded, but it was not very violent.  Aeris and Cloud stared for a bit, expecting nothing to be there when the smoke cleared.  They were in for a surprise.

            What remained was a square of wood with metal arms hanging out and a scrappy head.  It was trashed, but still active.  Before either person could attack it, it launched a small energy missile into the ground before them.  Cloud and Aeris flew back into a pile of scrap, accidentally disturbing a family of insect monsters.

            "Argh!" Cloud growled, fending them off, "Aeris, go across those beams!  There's a path out of the Sector-"

            "I know!" she said as she ran.  Cloud shook his head, a little embarrassed.  He spun around, hacking into the creatures and scattering them.  The hell house lumbered towards him.  The ex-SOLDIER figured he'd already tested his luck enough for one fight and ran after Aeris.  They cleared the area seconds later.

            Cloud almost laughed.  Right before him was totally different scenery that inspired a totally different mood.  A playground, ruined slightly, but usable was there.

            "Oh, wow…" Aeris breathed, looking around, "It's still here!"  The flower girl walked to a slide and climbed to the top.  She sat on top of the whole thing, above the actual slide.  Figuring it couldn't hurt, Cloud followed suit.

            "You come here often?" Cloud asked.

            She nodded.  "Well, I used too.  I've been pretty busy lately, though.  I'm surprised no one bulldozed the place yet."  She looked to her left, towards a massive metal wall.  "That gate opens and leads to Sector 7.  I guess you're home free, Cloud."

            "I guess."  They sat quietly for a while.  "Can you make it home all right?"

            "Ah, I'll be fine." She grinned.  "I only need a bodyguard when I'm dealing with intelligent life forms."

            Cloud laughed and prepared to hop down from the slide, but stopped when the gates started to slide open.  A carriage appeared, pulled by a yellow bird, a chocobo.  Aeris raised an eyebrow as well.  On the back of the small transport, a figure in a rather kinky blue dress stood quietly, as though embarrassed…

            "Tifa?!" Cloud realized with a start.  What was she doing?!  
            "That's Tifa?" Aeris frowned.  "I thought she ran a _bar_."

            _So did I…_ Cloud didn't say.  He looked towards the left, where the chariot disappeared behind some scrapped buildings.  "Where are they headed?"

            "Wall Market," Aeris answered quickly, "It's somewhat of a metropolis down here."

            "In door plumbing, you mean?"

            "You got it."

            Cloud hopped down, Aeris following in turn.  "I guess I'd better follow her."

            "Then let's go."

            "Let's…?  Both of us?"

            "Hey, I don't have anything better to do!  Besides, I know my way around.  I'll be like, your guide to the sights of Wall Market or something."

            Cloud grinned a little.  "Are you sure?"

            "What?" she put her hands on her hips.  "Still afraid of me getting hurt?"

            "Actually?  Yes."

            "Well, _stoppit_!  I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."  
            "But you needed a bodyguard."

            "…Shut up."

            "All right," he conceded, "Come on."

            "I shall try to be worthy of my post!"  Aeris skipped off, Cloud following slowly.

            "And _this _is the hotel," Aeris was being the tour guide she had promised to be.  "In here, we have beds.  And I'm not talking one bed.  I'm talking lots of beds, and one toilet!  Honestly, what kind of inn only has one toilet?"

            Cloud laughed aloud.  The flower girl had been merrily pointing out stations of interest in Wall Market, the lengthy section of Sector 5.  It had it all, a hotel, a clothing shop, a Material shop, an item shop, a restaurant, even a gym!  There was a huge weapon shop run by someone who seemed to scare a lot of people as well as a large bar.  Perhaps the two most notable parts of Wall Market, however, were located on opposite ends of the sector.  One was a whorehouse, a common sight in the slums, yet Cloud was somewhat disappointed to find one in an area as prosperous as Wall Market.  It was a large house, too, called the Honeybee Inn.  It was publicized like some godly attraction.  Perhaps the thing that disgusted Cloud the most was that the whorehouse had made a man very rich.  His mansion was sitting on the other end of Wall Market, and he was quite frankly the Don of the Slums.  To Cloud's distaste, Tifa had been seen headed in that direction.

            "Come here often?" Cloud asked, "You seem to know the place well."

            "Not…really…"

            "Aeris?"

            "Um, Cloud?" Aeris settled down suddenly, looking nervous.  "I think we'd better go find Tifa.  This place, well…it isn't the safest place for a female to be."  She looked in the direction of the Honeybee Inn.  "You know what I mean?"

            Cloud nodded, disgust filling him again.  If anyone laid a hand on Tifa or Aeris…

            _Awful protective of the flower girl, eh?_

There it was, the cursed voice again!  "I don't know what you mean," Cloud thought, "I'm her bodyguard!"

            _Heh, right.  Keep telling yourself it's that.  Maybe you'll believe it._

            "Cloud?  Is something wrong?"

            "No, no, nothing's wrong."  He grinned sheepishly.  "Sorry about that.  Come on, let's go find Tifa."

            Cloud walked somewhat speedily down towards the mansion, Aeris following closely, a little confused.

            Don Corneo's mansion was a large, oriental style building that stood a good two stories tall, plus a basement.  Cloud and Aeris inched their way to the front door, guarded by a tall, muscular man.

            "Hold it, mon ami!" he barked at Cloud.  Then he saw Aeris.  "Ooh, la la!  You shore got yerself a good lookin' heifer there, man!"

            Cloud just blinked, and Aeris suppressed some dirty words.

            "Right, well, we ah, we need to see the…"  Cloud stammered, taken aback by the man.

            "What exactly is yer business wit' da Don?"

            "I'm looking for a friend of mine."

            "So is the Don, 'cept it's for life!  He's bride searching, which means he ain't interested in men, so beat it!"  He looked to Aeris.  "You on the other hand, cutie, we wouldn't object to."

            "Yeah, well…" Aeris shrunk back, tugging on Cloud's sleeve.  "One second…mon ami…and I'll get back to you!"  They retreated a few yards.

            "Damn…" Cloud grumbled.

            "I hear ya…"

            "I have to get in there!  People saw Tifa go in there.  I'm worried about her, but I can't get in!"  
            "I can go!" Aeris offered.

            "No, no, heavens no!"  Cloud shook his head furiously.  "That is a bad idea.  You DO know what kind of place that is, right?"  
            "Oh, of course.  Don Corneo's happy fun time mansion, if you get my gist.  But Cloud, you _are _worried about Tifa, right?  And if this is the only way…" she stopped.

            "Aeris?"

            Aeris grinned wildly but clamped her hands over her mouth.  She broke into suppressed laughter, desperately trying to get over it.  
            "Aeris?  What is so funny?"

            "C…Cloud?" she took a needed breath, still giggling, "Why don't you dress up like a girl?  It'd get you into the mansion!"  

            "Wha…WHAT?" Cloud was appalled.

            "No, no, no!" Aeris was trying to be serious but her huge grin betrayed that.  "Think about it!  We make you…cute…and the guards let you in!  It's a good idea!"

            Cloud was very red now.  "Aeris…really…who here could…who here would _want _to help us?!"

            "You'd be surprised!" Aeris insisted, "People get bored in the slums."

            Cloud sighed helplessly.  He had to admit that Aeris's idea had merit, but…

            "Wait here!"  She ran back up to Don Corneo's guard.  "I'll be right back, okay?  I have another cute friend I want to bring!"  The guard nodded enthusiastically.  Aeris ran back to Cloud.  "Let's see.  The first thing you need is…a dress!  Yeah, that's it!  And there's a clothing store in the area!  Let's go!"  She took off, and Cloud was left staring after her.

            "…Damn."  He shook his head and gave chase, wishing he'd stayed in bed that morning.

            The Wall Market clothing store was located far from Corneo's mansion, and Cloud appeared out of breath as he reached the area.  An energetic Aeris appeared fine.

            "Excuse me," she said to the clerk, "But we need a dress!  A special one!"

            The clerk took a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders.  "I'm sorry, but…well, this is embarrassing.  My father makes the dresses here, and, well…he's been in a rut lately."

            "Like?" Aeris prodded.

            "Well," she fumbled, "He's in the bar a lot…get it?  Doesn't really think anything is worth it anymore."

            "Oh, I see…" Aeris chewed her lip for a second.  "Hey, well, we really need this dress.  Do you think if we talked to him he'd perk up?"  
            "Oh, would you?" the clerk replied, "I've tried, of course, but…well, you said it was a special dress?  Maybe if he knew that a challenge awaited him…"  
            "I understand!" Aeris grabbed Cloud's arm and led the reluctant mercenary outside, "The bar, right?"

            "Thank you!" the clerk called after them.

            The bar was far from the clothing store, so Cloud was breathless again.  Aeris was just merry, though.  A man sat alone at the front of the bar, fairly old and looking forlorn.  It was a safe bet he was the man they were looking for.

            "Excuse me?" Aeris piped up, "Does your daughter work at the clothing store?"

            "That she does," he nodded, "Why do you ask?"

            "Well, sir, we need a dress…"

            "Bah!  Go somewhere else!  I'm through!"

            "Sir, please…"

            "Young lady, look around!  This is a slum, people don't care about what they wear!  Every day I got up and made dresses and shirts and pants and all that crap, thinking that I was making at least some difference.  But really, what do I get for it?  Enough gil to buy dinner, maybe?  And even that isn't a whole load of yummy goodness!  Life's lost its challenge for me!"

            "Hrm," Aeris mused.  "Cloud, could you excuse us?"  He reluctantly did so.

            "Eh?  What's wrong?"

            "Well, sir," Aeris lowered her voice, "The dress I need…it's not really for me, it's for him."

            "What?" the man reeled.

            "Yeah, well…he's always wanted to be cute, just for once.  I thought maybe it would be a new thing for you.  I mean come on!  It's certainly not your everyday thing, is it?"

            "No…" the man smiled a bit, and laughed.  "I suppose it isn't.  Almost interesting…"

            "Come on, sir!  Please, we'd really appreciate it, and it would be a challenge!  Isn't that what you want?"

            He thought for a moment.  "Well, since you were so nice about it…I guess I do need a challenge.  What kind of dress does he want?"  The tailor had the courtesy not to address Cloud directly.

            "Something…soft," Aeris tried to think of what would be most comfortable for Cloud, "And something that…" Something flashy, something to attract attention.  "Something that shimmers!"

            "Hey, okay, let's see…" He got to his feet and stretched.  "I'm going back to my shop to get started.  Oh, and young man," he turned to Cloud.  "If you wanna be cute, you'll need new hair!  The gym has people like you.  Talk to the boss!"  He turned and left.

            Cloud was beet red.  "People…'like you'?  Aeris, what did you _tell_ him?!"

            "Nothing!" she grinned innocently, blushing a bit.

            "Like hell!"

            "Hey, it worked, eh?  Let's give him some time to work and go for that wig."

            "Aeris…"

            "Yes, Cloud?"

            "Do I have to go…?"

            "Of course you have to go!  You wanna be cute!"  She laughed and grabbed his arm again, pulling him outside.  "Come on!  No time to waste!  Tifa may need our help!"

            "Well I'm glad YOU'RE enjoying yourself…"

            Big Bro's Gym was near the bar, so the walk was short.  Cloud was very antsy about going in.

            "People 'like me' means they're either gay or cross-dressers, and I don't want anything to do with either type."

            "Cloud, come on.  Do it for Tifa!  Besides, I'll be right behind you, and I'm not looking forward to meeting with those kind of people, either."

            Cloud took a deep breath and went in.  Apparently, the tailor had been there already, because Big Bro was there to greet Cloud.  The gym master was a comical sight, big and burly, yet dressed in women's garments.  

            "You the one?" he asked, not bothering to sound feminine, "Who wants to be cute?"

            Cloud breathed sharply and replied, "Yep."

            "Well then," Big Bro nodded, turning to a large boxing ring and reaching underneath it, "I have some wigs for you…"

            "Hey, Big Bro!" a voice boomed.  A man twice the size of the gym master lumbered towards Cloud.  "You givin' those away?" he motioned to the wigs.

            "Yes, to this gentleman right here."

            "Hell no!" the big man boomed, "I want them!"

            Big Bro paused, turning to Cloud, then back to the man.  "Sasha…really…"

            "Hey," Sasha barked, "I'll actually earn the stuff!  Come on, skinny boy!  We'll compete!"

            Cloud felt a bit sick.  Without his sword, he couldn't rightly take this man down.  

            "No fighting," Big Bro interceded, "You'll do squats for them.  Whoever has the most squats done after a minute wins.  Fair enough?"  Big Bro sounded tired.

            "Fine with me!" Sasha replied.

            Cloud nodded.  Sasha was big on top, not on bottom, and Big Bro knew that.  He wanted Cloud to have the wigs, obviously, so he'd assigned an exercise Cloud could do better.  He hoped.

            "One, two, three, GO!"  Big Bro turned to his watch.

            Cloud moved through the motions quickly and easily.  His lighter build made it easy to outrace Sasha in speed, but the bigger man was pulling his weight rather well.  Cloud stepped up the pace a bit.  

            "Five, four, three, two, one…STOP!" Big Bro turned to two other men who had been watching Cloud and Sasha…and Aeris.  "How many?"

            "I counted 26 for Sasha."

            "Heh…29 for the spiky kid."

            "Bull!" Sasha roared, glaring.  "That's not fair, ya know?  Really not…"  

            "Shut up!" Big Bro growled, and with one uppercut sent Sasha flying across the room.  "Don't be a sore loser!"  Then to a shocked Cloud, he said, "Pick a wig, winner."

            Cloud looked through the set and chose the blonde wig, figuring it would appear more pleasing to the lechs in Corneo's mansion.

            "You know," Cloud grumbled to Aeris when they were safely out of range of the gym, "I can't believe some people.  All this over a bloody wig!"  He shuddered.  "T'will be all the better if I never come here again!"

            "Aw," Aeris snickered, "But dontcha wanna hear the rumors about the mercenary who became a lady for a day and fooled the great Don Corneo?"

            "We don't know if that will work."

            "Sure it will!  You're Cloud, dammit!"

            "What does that have to do with anything?"  
            "Nothing, I was just trying to boost your self esteem."

            "Oh…"

            "You're welcome."  She smiled to soften the phrase.  They entered the clothing store to find an energetic tailor and clerk.

            "It's done!" he glowed with excitement, "Here!  What do you think?"

            Cloud looked at the shimmering purple dress, unsure what to think.

            "It's wonderful!" Aeris nodded approval, and turned to Cloud.  "Go try it on, with the wig."

            Cloud breathed deeply and took the dress.  He stepped into the dressing room and got to work putting the dress over his armor and the remnants of his SOLDIER uniform.  After a while, the noises inside became a bit annoying…and Cloud was taking forever.

            "Cloud…?" Aeris asked, "Are you okay in there?"

            "How…" he asked, completely embarrassed, "How do you put this thing on?"

            Aeris and the clerk laughed aloud and the tailor grinned.  The flower girl went up to the curtain and whispered some directions to Cloud.  She turned back with a grin and waited.  Soon, Cloud emerged, clothed in a royal purple dress and a long blonde wig.

            "You look extravagant, Ms. Cloud!" Aeris said dramatically.  

            "Gee, thanks…" Cloud grumbled his reply and squirmed.

            "Move more nicely, Ms. Cloud," Aeris instructed, "Like this!  And soften your voice."

            "You know…" the tailor mused, "This was fun!  I like these new things!  Perhaps life is worth it after all.  I might make this a regular part of my selection, guys' dresses."

            "Heh, thanks for getting my dad back," the clerk bowed her head to them.

            "Hrm," Aeris leafed through the selection of dresses.  "I think I want one."

            "Oh!" the tailor and his daughter both moved to help.

            "This one!" said the clerk.

            "Nah, this one!" said the tailor.

            "I want THIS one!" Aeris pulled out a crimson dress and went to the dressing room.  "No peeking!" she added.  She dressed much quicker than Cloud, who waited somewhat anxiously, unsure of what to expect.  Aeris stepped out.  Over her red vest and pink robe there was a bright red dress.  She looked…well, beautiful.

            "So!" she twirled around, "How do I look?"

            They all smiled wryly at the show.  "Aw," Aeris shook her head, "You're no fun."  She took out a wallet.  "How much do we owe…?"

            "Oh, no no!" The tailor shook his head furiously, "You've helped me rediscover my passion!  It's on the house." 

            "Are you sure…?" 

            "Positive!"

            Aeris grinned and bowed her head.  "Thank you, sir, and ma'am.  Much appreciated!"

            "Oh, and one more thing!" the tailor spoke, "Young man, you might want to go get some make-up.  It will add drastically to the effect."

            "Uh," Cloud stammered, "Where can…I find that?"

            "Honeybee Inn.  Tell 'em Corneo sent ya to get cute."

            "I ain't doin' it."

            "Cloud!  Come on, we've come this far!"

            "Aeris, no!  It's very, very, very humiliating…"

            "Yeah, well, what about Tifa, huh?"

            Cloud sighed.  "Damn."  He stood at the entrance to the Honeybee Inn and took a deep breath.  The fun house was on the lower right corner of Wall Market, and Cloud had spent the entire walk complaining.  He was not looking forward to this.

            "Heya, chicky," the guard grinned like a maniac, "What's your business here?"

            "I'm, ah," Cloud tried to sound feminine, "I'm from Corneo…he wants me to get some make-up from here so I'm presentable!  I'd like to be at least presentable to him."

            "Say no more, girl!  Go on in, the room you're looking for is in the back."

            Cloud entered, biting hard on his tongue.  Damn Tifa for doing this to him!  The inside of the Inn was a pentagram shape with doors on all five sides.  One led out, another led to the dressing room.  Cloud went there.  A bunch of girls dressed in honeybee outfits sat around making themselves ready for their "customers".  Cloud's stomach rolled.  He went up to one.

            "Excuse me," said Ms. Cloud, "I'm sorry for intruding, but I need to use some make-up."

            "Here, let me!"  The honeybee started dabbing an embarrassed Cloud's face with all sorts of stuff.  Cloud looked in the mirror and saw that she had done a good job.

            "Heh, you're a strong girl!" the honeybee realized, "Bet no one messes with you!"

            Cloud just nodded and left.

            Aeris tore away from a pack of drooling men and joined up with Cloud.  "Ooh, nice!"

            "Gee, thanks."

            "You're welcome.  Ready for the big moment?"

            "I guess.  Come on, the sooner we get this over with, the better!"

            "Hey hey, you're friend is cute, too!" Corneo's guard beamed at Cloud and Aeris.  "Come on in!  The Don will send for you…soon, I guess."

            "Thank you kindly!" Aeris blew a kiss for effect.  The door closed.  They were standing in a massive lobby.  Stairs led up to a second level with three different doorways.

            "Well?" Aeris hissed, "Let's go find Tifa!"

            "Yeah…" Cloud went upstairs, Aeris in pursuit.  The first door was locked, the second one was locked, and the third one…wasn't even a door.

            "This makes things easy…" Aeris muttered as she went down the steps.  Cloud followed her into what had to be a dungeon of some sorts.  There was even a rack…Cloud realized he liked Don Corneo less and less as time went on.

            "Is that her?" Aeris muttered of a figure in a blue dress standing quietly by the wall.  Cloud nodded and Aeris went straight to the point.  "Hello, Tifa?  My name is Aeris.  I'm here with Cloud to…"  
            "Cloud?" That got her attention.  "He's all right?"  
            "Yeah, my flower bed broke his fall, I think!" she grinned.  "Right, Cloud?"

            "Cloud…?" Tifa frowned at the figure in the corner.  Cloud gulped and moved closer.  Tifa examined him closer…and jumped back with a start.  "Cloud?!  What in GOD'S name are you up to?"

            "It was the only way I could get in here!" he snapped, "I was worried!"

            "About me…?"

            "Well, yeah!"

            "I'm flattered."  
            Cloud sighed.  "Tifa what…what about you?  What are you doing in a place like this?"

            "Ahem," Aeris moved away a few feet, "I'll just plug my ears."

            "Well," Tifa fidgeted, "After we bombed the reactor, we all escaped back to base.  On the way, though, we caught a guy who had been asking a lot of the locals questions…about us.  Barret squeezed out the info from him, and the Don's name came up.  Barret said to leave the lech alone, but…"

            "You wanted to get it straight from the horse's mouth."

            "Exactly, except…I'm in trouble.  Corneo is bride hunting, which means he gets two or three girls and selects one to be his 'friend'.  The other two, well, I don't know what happens to them, but it ain't good.  If I'm not picked tonight, I'm screwed."

            "Sorry," Aeris grinned sheepishly, "I…couldn't help but overhear."

            "It's all right," Tifa shrugged, "Do you have any suggestions?"

            "Well, yeah.  It's not a problem if you know the other two girls, right?"

            "Hey, I like it…" Tifa nodded.

            "Oh, girls!" one of Corneo's lackeys called, "The Don is ready for you!  Please come on up to the master room now!"  
            "Coming!" Tifa called.  

            "So, Tifa," Aeris said as they started upstairs, "You know Cloud…how?"

            "Ah," Tifa replied, catching the hint, "We're childhood friends, nothing more."  

            "Uh," Cloud called from behind, still dwelling on an earlier statement, "I probably don't need to ask, but…the third girl is…me?"

            "You're right," Aeris nodded without stopping her ascent, "There was no need…"

            "To ask," Tifa finished.

            Cloud shook his head in grief.  He wanted this day to end.

            Don Corneo was a short, round man in a flowing red robe.  His hair was shaped into a blonde Mohawk, and he puffed on a large cigar.  In short, he was a pig, but Cloud did not dare say that to his face.  He, Tifa, and Aeris were lined up in front of the Don's desk.  To Corneo's right and left were his two assistants, Kotch and Scotch.  Brilliant names for brilliant people, Cloud thought dryly.  
            "Ooh, I like what we have tonight!" Corneo said in a less than manly voice.  "Very much!"  He hopped over to Tifa and examined her.  "Hey, this is a lovely number!  I smell a free spirit!"  He moved over to Aeris.  "Ooh, this is a real cutie!  Young blood!"  He went to Cloud.  "Ah, a strong girl!  Probably very brave!"  Cloud blinked, amazed at Corneo's judge of character.  If nothing else, he could respect that.

            Corneo peered at all three of them.  "Hrm.  Who to choose?  I like them all!"  Cloud hoped and prayed Tifa and Aeris were more attractive to Corneo than he was.  "Aha, I've made up my mind!  My friend for tonight will be…"  Cloud took a deep breath and said a prayer… "This pretty girl, the strong one!" …to no avail.

            "Uh, um," Cloud stammered.  He could see Aeris repress a grin.  "Thanks Don!"  He felt monumentally stupid, but what else would you say to such a man?

            "You can have the other two," said Corneo to Kotch and Scotch.  

            "Yessir!"

            "Thank you, sir!"

            Cloud was led off into Corneo's room, a large place decorated with bright lights, colored walls, and a huge bed, to huge for Corneo's small size.  The Don hopped onto the bed and patted it, a signal for Cloud to get on.  Reluctantly, he did so.  If Tifa and Aeris had any brains at all, they'd kick the shit out of Kotch and Scotch and get in here to interrogate Corneo.  He hoped they would do that…and soon!  
            "So, what do you want to do?" the Don asked, a stupid question.

            "Uh, whatever you want, Donny!" Cloud replied, feeling foolish.

            "Wow!  Well, come here then!"

            Cloud just sat there for a while, about to obey when Corneo spoke.

            "Oh, shy are we?  That's all right, I like that!"  He cocked his head.  "I think I like you as a whole, actually!"

            No, Cloud thought, you don't.  "I'm flattered!"

            "Really?" Corneo kept it up, "Well…do you like me?"

            Cloud felt his face heating up.  "Uh, y…yeah, sure!"

            "Oh, good!  I was worried!"  He grinned like an animal, trying to impress Cloud and having no luck.  Cloud humored him with adoring eyes.  "How about a kiss?  Huh?"  He puckered up.  Cloud felt sick.  This was hell on earth.  What had he done to deserve this?  He closed his eyes and went to meet the Don…

            "Hold it!"

            "Don't move, Corneo!"

            The Don leaped away, looking at the new arrivals.  Tifa and Aeris were back in their original attire.  Cloud hurried to join them.

            "Cloud?" Tifa asked with a quizzical expression, "Were you really going to…?"

            "No!" Cloud shook his head furiously and threw off the violet dress and wig.  

            Corneo reeled, totally taken aback.  "You're a…but how…I mean…Kotch!  Scotch!  Get in here!"

            "They're a bit…tied up," Tifa frowned at her own cliché.  "We need to talk, Corneo!"

            "Talk?  Who's talking?" growled Corneo.

            "You."  Tifa glared.  "What do you know about AVALANCHE?  Their hideout?  And their allies?"

            "No!" Corneo shook his head, "No, no, no!  I will not talk about that!"

            "You gave yourself away, Don!" Cloud growled, "You do know something!  Now spill it!"  An idea came to his head.  He knelt on the bed, gazing calmly at the cornered man.  "If you don't tell us…I'll chop them off."

            "Whoo!" Corneo pressed himself against the wall, wide eyed.  "You wouldn't."

            "Try me!"

            "Ahh! Okay, okay!  The orders were to find out where AVALANCHE, a small rebel group, was hiding out, okay?"

            "Orders?" Tifa hissed, kneeling next to Cloud, "Whose orders?"

            "Never!" Corneo howled, "If I told, he'd kill me!"

            "Tell me, Corneo!" Tifa insisted, "If you don't talk…" She thought for a bit.  "I'll rip them off."

            "GAH!" Corneo cowered, "It was Heidegger!  Heidegger of Shinra, Inc.!"

            "Heidegger?" Cloud frowned, "General Heidegger is the head of the Public Safety Department of Shinra.  What does he want to do?"

            "Talk, tell us everything!" Aeris ordered.  "If you don't talk," she said in turn, "I'll crush them!"

            "OWCH!" Corneo was in pain just thinking about it.  "You're s…s…serious, aren't you?  W…well, Shinra wants to crush this small group.  And they're really going to crush them…literally!"

            "Huh?" Cloud was suddenly nervous, "How?"

            "By breaking the support pillar that holds the upper Sector 7 plate above the slums, where their hideout is!  And you know what'll happen then!" Corneo went on just in case they didn't, "It'll go _SPLAT _and crush everyone in the Sector 7 Slums!"

            "What?!" Tifa was horrified.  "They're going to get rid of thousands of people…just to get rid of US!"

            "Horrible waste," Corneo agreed.  "I'm just glad it's not here in Sector 6!"

            "We have to stop them!" Cloud declared.

            "Yeah!" Aeris agreed, "I'm coming, too!"  
            "Aeris…"  
            "Cloud, come on!  I'll be fine!"

            "We'll need help, Cloud…"

            "Okay, Tifa, Aeris, come on!"  They gathered on the rug in front of Corneo's bed.

            "Just a second!" the Don commanded, "How exactly do you think scum like me feels when they've just blown something this huge?"

            "Well I don't rightly know or care," Tifa said flatly.

            "Well, wait!  A: They know they've won, B: They're terrified, C: They're feeling guilty as sin, or D: They don't know what the hell's going on?"

            "So many could fit you," Cloud growled, "But I'll say D."

            "Bzzt!  Wrong!" Corneo cackled something fierce and flipped a hidden switch.  The floor beneath the three disappeared and Cloud felt himself falling down and down and down for the second time in two days.  Aeris's muffled "OOF" sounded in Cloud's ears, then, the darkness came back.

            The air was thinner when you were up this high, but the men were used to it.  They had far more important things on their mind.  The massive outdoor office gave way to a massive desk for one small man, yet so powerful a man that he ruled the world.

            At the top of the massive Shin-Ra Headquarters, Reeve could scarcely believe what he was hearing.  The unimposing head of Shinra's Urban Development Division turned to acknowledge the demon who was President Shinra's right hand man, a bulky man in a green army coat lined with awards he didn't earn, yet was entitled to.  Reeve hated General Heidegger for everything he stood for, from his brutal attitude to his terrible policies to…this.

            "Preparations are complete, sir!" Heidegger boomed in his deep, throaty voice, hair of his long black beard swaying in the slight breeze.  "Everything is ready and everyone is prepared to see the end of AVALANCHE, the 'Noble Terrorists'." He spat the last words.

            "Sir," Reeve protested again, begging Shinra now, "Is this really necessary?  An entire half-sector just for a group of six or seven people?"

            "Reeve, we've been over this how many times…?"

            "I know sir, but…as head of Urban Development, I've been involved with the building and maintaining of all Midgar.  I hate to see it destroyed."

            "I can see where you're coming from," Heidegger interjected, "But there are greater things at stake here!  AVALANCHE isn't just a group of boys with toys; they've proven that!  So we need to crush them while we still can!"

            Reeve sighed.  He wasn't getting anywhere and he knew it.

            "Any chance of failure?" Shinra asked Heidegger, getting out of his chair and walking around his massive silver desk to see the men in "person".

            "Gya ha ha," Heidegger laughed, "No sir!  I've assigned the Turks to this one, Tseng and Reno in particular!  They have their orders and their soldiers!  They won' t fail!"

            "Very good.  You may commence the operation whenever you are ready."

            Heidegger turned and started off.  Reeve spun to watch the man who would doom thousands of lives disappeared down a staircase.  "Heidegger, wait!"  He was cut off by President Shinra's hand clamped on his shoulder.  

            "Reeve, you're tired.  Take a few days off, hell, a week," he suggested, "I know what I'm doing, here."

            "Yes sir…" Reeve conceded and followed Heidegger to the stairs, "I guess you do."

            Shinra watched them go and shook his head.  "Reeve, you're much to sentimental," he mused out loud.  "How perfect, though.  We destroy Sector 7, blame AVALANCHE and their bombs, and then the Shinra come in to save the day!  People love us even more."  Shinra turned around and looked out over the horizon that was his floating city.  "Sorry, AVALANCHE, but every dog has its day, and yours is over."


	6. Falling Sky

VI-Falling Sky 

            It was dark.  There were many other aspects of the place, but the first thing Cloud realized was that it was dark.  The second was a horrible smell, and the third was the sound of moving water.

            Cloud pulled himself to his feet, glad to see that there was enough light to examine his surroundings.  It was a sewer, Cloud discovered.  Don Corneo had dumped them into a sewer.  A moan distracted him.

            "Ahh…" Aeris groaned, trying to steady herself with her Guard Stick.  Cloud took her by the hand and helped her to her feet.

            "You all right?"

            "Cloud…?"

            "Yeah, I'm here."

            "Oh, good…"  She looked around, then up.  "Wow…that was a long drop…are you okay?"

            "I'm fine," Cloud said, then turned to Tifa, who was starting to stir.  He helped her to her feet as well.  "Tifa?  Ya dead?"

            "No, man…"  She steadied herself.  "Phew, that's not a fun smell!"

            "No it's not," Aeris agreed, shivering.  "We gotta get out of here, though, quickly."

            "Oh god…" Tifa sunk to her knees.  "Barret, Marlene…the people of the slums…we can't help them now!"

            "We'll escape!" Cloud broke in, "But come on!  We can't stop Shinra while sitting in the sewers!"

            Tifa got to her feet and nodded.  "Okay, I'm ready.  Let's go!"

            It was not to be.  A loud roar shook the sewers, followed by the splashing sounds of massive feet stomping the wet ground.  Something was coming.

            "Get ready…" Cloud muttered, giving his Bolt Materia to Tifa.  She snapped it into a slot in her glove.

            "What is it?" Aeris asked in a quiet voice, obviously nervous.  Her question was answered immediately.  

            A huge green monster lumbered out of the shadows.  It was an odd thing that seemed to resemble a crossbred bull and pig.  Attached to its leg was a heavy iron ball that acted as a leash.  On its neck there was a dogtag with the letters "Aps" engraved.  Aps, Don Corneo's freakish pet.

            "Aeris, Tifa!" Cloud muttered, "Hit it with magic and I'll split it open!"

            "Oui, mon ami…" Aeris quipped.

            Aps reared back, scanning his new playthings.  What were they?  Why had the Don given them to him?  Oh well, he'd wash them up, and then eat them.  He was pretty hungry.  Aps stirred the water around him and called forth energies.  The black waters began to rise behind the team of intruders until there was a wall of water.

            "Hey, people, look _out_!" Tifa snapped them to attention just as the small tsunami roared forward.  Cloud, Aeris, and Tifa were crushed by the fast mass of liquid, finding themselves lost in water.  Water was up, water was down, and water was to the sides.  Cloud scrambled to find the direction that was really up, but got the opposite: he swam straight into the ground.  His vision clouded and his lungs begged for air, but before he could do anything, Tifa hauled him to his feet.  

            "Are you all right?" she asked frantically.

            "Yeah," Cloud responded after a few generous breaths, "Where's Aeris…?"  On cue, a bolt of fire flew through the air straight into Aps's face.  The monster reeled and screamed a deafening scream that floored all three warriors.  The creature struggled to douse the flames that clouded its eyesight, succeeding just in time to see Cloud rushing at it, sword poised.  Aps growled and lashed out with a massive fist, catching Cloud in the chest and rocketing him far back.  Winded but not beaten, Cloud placed his hand on the glowing Restore Materia in his sword and concentrated on it.  A green river of energies coursed through him, restoring his strength, healing his wounds.

            Aps reeled as another blast of fire caught him in the arm.  How were these people doing this?  They were not magical!  He sensed nothing magical about them!  But those stones…  Yes, the stones had power!  He sensed it!  He had to destroy those stones!  Aps called forth more energies.  The waters around him began to rise.

            "Here it comes again!" Aeris cried, bracing herself.  Aps's Sewer Tsunami crashed into the trio.  Cloud was unprepared, as was Tifa.  They collapsed, weapons carried away by the current.

            _I don't have a _sword! Cloud screamed in his mind.  He looked around frantically.  He saw his sword in the corner, but he was given a head start towards it by Aps' fist.  Cloud slammed into the brick wall, and this time he didn't get up.  

            Aeris had held her ground rather nicely.  She continued to launch fire at the creature, hoping for results similar to the first.  Aps finally left Cloud alone and barreled towards Tifa, who spun in the air, kicking Aps in the chest.  Aeris took the opportunity to send another flame at the distracted beast.  It didn't do much, but Aps's attention turned from Tifa to Aeris.

            The behemoth charged towards the flower girl, horned head poised to kill.  Aeris gasped slightly and held up her staff.  Aps roared when she leapt out of his way.  He lashed out, clawed hand ripping through the ground near her.  Aeris drew a sharp breath, weaving away from the razor claws.  Aps proceeded to roar gloriously and throw himself at her.  By some miracle, Aps fell short; ugly face inches from Aeris, massive fists digging into the wet floor.  With notable speed, Aeris lanced her staff into the monster's eye, causing it to recoil all the way to its feet.  Seeing Cloud and Tifa huddled in a corner, one nursing the other's wounds, Aeris mad a beeline towards them.  Flailing angrily, Aps finally got lucky.  His fist found Aeris's back, and the young woman took a ride.

            Tifa got up and ran to Aeris, helping her to her feet.  "Are you okay?"

            Aeris nodded weakly.  She was feeling the energy she hadn't felt in years, channeling the power to her fingertips.  But Aeris did not attack with her Limit skills.  She whispered a few words in a long forgotten tongue, and a breeze came from nowhere.  It began to sparkle with magic.  Cloud felt his strength return, as did Tifa and Aeris herself.  He got to his feet and grabbed his sword, Aeris's healing wind having completely rejuvenated him.

            Aps was growling and creating another tsunami.  He sensed the magic stones.  He had to get rid of them, for good this time!  The wave shot forward.

            "Get behind me, fast!" Cloud shouted.  He slammed his massive sword into the ground, cowering behind it.  It was now a shield.  Tifa and Aeris crouched directly behind him.  The full blunt of the wave hit the sword, and the rest was easily manageable.  Tifa leapt to her feet, looking towards the creature.  Too many falls had rendered Aps wet with sewer water.  Tifa thought of lightning, and lightning came.  It reacted wildly with the water, frying Aps good.  Cloud felt his own strength building and multiplying.  He had to get rid of it.  He could easily finish Aps with his powerful bash, but he wasn't feeling brutal for some reason.  He felt…fancy.

            Cloud raced towards the jolted Aps, bringing his sword straight up through the beast's flesh.  Aps shrieked in pain, but Cloud wasn't done.  He dragged the blade straight to the left, flying through the air with it, then pulled it down.  He fell to the floor, bloodstained blade still itching to do more damage.  Cloud slashed twice, diagonally up both times, forming an X in the bloody square outline he had created.

            Aps shuddered and gave a dying scream, collapsing in a heap.  Cloud settled down, leaning on the sword as Tifa and Aeris ran to his side.

            "Damn, Cloud!" Tifa breathed, "You kicked that thing's ass!"

            Cloud just nodded as he rinsed off his sword in the dark waters.  "Hey, Aeris…what did you find?"

            "Materia!" Aeris replied, holding up a golden orb she had removed from Aps's leash, "I think this thing makes you more alert!"

            "How do you know?" Tifa asked.

            Aeris held the Materia tightly and looked towards a small turtle creature that was wandering around a corner.  "I…I know things about that turtle thing."

            "Like?" Cloud asked, intrigued.

            "It's young, for one.  Weak against the Fire element."

            "You just…know that all of a sudden?" Tifa asked.

            "It's the Materia, it lets you Sense your enemy."  She snapped it into a slot in her personal bangle.  "I'll hold on to it, okay?"

            "Yeah, sure."  Cloud stared down a dark tunnel.  If he remembered correctly, there was a route under the city that would take them to the Train Graveyard in Sector 7.  "Come on, we have to get moving.  Shinra won't wait for us."

            "Oh no!" Tifa's face fell, "God…we've lost so much time!"

            "Let's _go_!" Aeris ordered, starting off, "Before we run out of time entirely!"  She cast one final look at the dead Aps.  "Or before someone throws up…"

            The Sector 7 support pillar was an immense structure that towered over all the slums.  Winding around the pillar like vines on a flagpole was a long metal staircase that led to the very top.  At that height, a large computer sat against the stone.  In that mainframe was a link to the top of the pillar, where explosives were stored to dislodge the pillar in case of emergency.

            Reno of the Turks stared down at the upper Sector 7 from his perch atop the Shinra Building.  He was waiting for both his comrade and a helicopter.  After that, he would go to the mainframe atop the pillar and detonate the explosives, causing Sector 7 to disappear in a cloud of fire.  Reno bristled a bit at the thought.  As a Turk, he was much accustomed to executions, and had long ago trained himself to disregard all morals when business was involved.  Business was everything to a Turk.  Even so, Reno was a little disgusted this time.  It just didn't make sense.  Destroy an entire Midgar sector, cause tons of needless deaths, just to eliminate a small group of revolutionists.  Reno personally believed he and his fellow Turks could get the job done quicker and produce just as effective an outcome.  But he never questioned orders.  He disobeyed them once in a while, but he never questioned them.

            "Reno."  Another man was on the helipad.  Reno turned to greet his comrade and superior.  The man wore a suit coat and plain pants, just like the other Turks, but his was pitch black instead of midnight blue, marking his rank somewhat.  Shoulder length ebony hair covered his head, and his skin was just slightly tanned.

            "Good evening, Tseng."  Reno nodded his head in greeting, "Are we on…?"

            Tseng nodded.  "Heidegger has dispatched his troops already.  They've stormed the pillar and taken over the area around it.  Normally, all we'd need to do is activate the plate release system, but…"  That was why the Turks were needed here.  Only a Shinra executive could activate a plate release system, so the soldiers already there couldn't do it themselves.  Reno absently fingered the clearance card in his pocket.

            "What's the problem?"

            "I don't know if you'd call it a problem."  Tseng had a cruel grin on his face.  "AVALANCHE turned out.  They're launching a counterattack."

            Reno whistled  "All of them?"  
            "Everyone except the ex-SOLDIER and the Seventh Heaven's poster girl."

            "They're on the pillar?"

            "Scaling it, and quickly.  Our MPs aren't holding out, we're sending in the Aero Combatants.  But they've chosen an interesting attack plan."  Tseng sat down on the cold ground and spread out a small map of the pillar.  Reno took a seat as well.  "Here," Tseng pointed to a location a few staircases away from the top, "is where their leader, Wallace, is right now.  We expect him to move up gradually.  Almost breathing down his neck is this round guy.  Almost four staircases down, we have the female.  Near the bottom is the tough one."

            Reno saw what Tseng was thinking of.  "They're isolated from one another.  We can pick them off one at a time."

            "We still have to trash the pillar," Tseng pointed out, "But yes.  AVALANCHE itself will die one way or another, and I'd much enjoy doing the fun part ourselves.  Wouldn't you?"

            Reno smiled coldly as the sounds of a descending helicopter filled the area.  "Yes, yes I would."

            "Are we there yet?"

            "Tifa, really…"

            "Cloud, I'm worried!"

            "All right, all right…the Train Graveyard should be just above us…maybe this manhole opens…?"  Cloud's efforts were rewarded.  The manhole opened and Cloud, Tifa, and Aeris crawled out into the mass of wrecked trains that made up the western section of Sector 7.  

            "All right," Tifa ordered, "Let's go.  We can't wait."

            "Yeah," Aeris nodded agreement.  "Cloud, do you know where we need to go?"

            Cloud scanned the area.  "Right over that train there is a path that should lead right to the pillar."  The train, however, was a massive wreck.  Quite dangerous.  "God, Aeris, I really shouldn't have gotten you mixed up in this…"      

            "Hey!" she protested, "I hate the Shinra every bit as much as you do!  I can't just stand around knowing what I do now."

            "Aeris…" Tifa said in a quiet tone, "Thanks…really, thanks.  I appreciate all you've done…AVALANCHE appreciates that statement."

            She curtseyed dramatically.  "I try."

            The climb over the train began.  Cloud lodged his sword into the side again, providing a step.  Tifa went up first, then helped Aeris.

            "But you know…" the flower girl started, "I really can't understand how someone like Corneo could become so rich."

            "Ugh, he was a pig!" Tifa spat.

            "You didn't have to go in a room with him…" Cloud grumbled, hoisting himself on top of the train and pointing down it.  "We can actually just walk on top of this train and we'll make it to the path.

            "Right," Tifa nodded and they started walking.  "So, anyway, what _was _it like?"

            "Excuse me…?" 

            "You know.  Being a girl for a day, sleeping with a dwarf…" Tifa grinned evilly.

            "I did NOT sleep with him!" Cloud was very red.

            "Sure, sure!" Tifa pursued, "But what was it like to wear a dress?  Who came up with that idea, anyway?"

            "That would be me," Aeris snickered.

            "Well, you're creative, I'll give you that." Tifa said in respect.

            "Ah, I think Cloud enjoyed it a little!  Didn't you, Cloud?"  Aeris smiled ever so sweetly.

            Cloud grumbled things under his breath while the girls giggled amongst each other.

            "But," Tifa said suddenly, "Now that I think of it, Corneo is a great judge of character."

            "Yeah," Cloud nodded agreement, "I noticed that, too."

            "I don't know…" Aeris mused, "He implied that I was the youth of the group."  She frowned.  "And actually, I think I'm older than you two…"

            "Huh?" Cloud blinked.  "I'm 21."

            "20," Tifa replied in turn.

            "Heh, I'm 22…" Aeris coughed a little.  "I feel so old all of a sudden."

            "I feel so _young_!" Tifa shook her head, "By all rights, I shouldn't be able to drink, much less run a bar."

            "Yeah, well, we'll slip your name to the Turks next time we meet with them," Cloud joked.

            "What will those creeps accomplish?" Tifa challenged.

            "They'll chase you around your bar and threaten you with their greatness and if you're lucky, barrels will fall on their heads," Aeris said in one breath.

            Cloud smirked.  "Yep, that's about it."

            "Peachy…" Tifa replied.  They stopped, having reached the end of the train car.  One by one they jumped down, looking down the path towards the pillar. 

            "I hear gunfire…" Aeris stated.

            "Me too…" Cloud was tensing.  "Are we ready…?"

            No one could answer.  A small chariot appeared from the shadows and crashed into them, scattering the three like bowling pins.  As soon as one stood, a ray of red energies hit them back down.

            "Aeris, what IS it?" Cloud dodged another beam and stared at the odd creature.  It resembled a white armored knight sitting in a dark chariot.  It carried a large staff that seemed to resemble Aeris's Guard Stick.

            Aeris put her Sense Materia to use.  "Eligor, undead creature.  It's weak to…"  A beam from Eligor's eyes shut her up.  That HURT!

            Tifa charged the creature with a noble cry, kicking it square in the face.  Eligor reeled, then charged Tifa right back, staff poised to impale her.  The broad side of Cloud's sword fell in his path, and the staff was jarred out of Eligor's grip.  Aeris made a dash for the staff, intent on keeping it away from its master.  Cloud slashed at the creature, making a neat gash.  Eligor launched a beam to counterattack, hitting Cloud hard.  Tifa used a fire spell, distracting the creature.  Eligor charged towards Tifa, trying to mow her down.  Cloud used the opportunity to work up a cure spell, but aimed it at the enemy this time.

            A sparkling curtain of green energies appeared around Eligor, but instead of healing, Eligor shrieked in agony.  Being an undead monster, the forces of life should cancel out its strength.  Cloud had counted on that, and it worked.  Aeris appeared from behind the monster and spun her new staff in a helicopter motion, clonking Eligor in the head a few times.  The demon collapsed in his own chariot and was still.

            "No time to rest!" Cloud barked as he handed his team a potion or two, "Use these and get your Materia ready!  We're moving in!"

            Biggs was, for the first time in his life, truly terrified.  The rebel had been holding the base of the pillar stairs for the better part of the hour, mowing down MPs and the Attack Squads with his semi-automatic.  The airborne Aero Combatant robots could just fly up past Biggs, but Jessie was up a few staircases, taking as many out as she could.  Barret and Wedge were holding the top, desperately trying to keep any Shinra soldiers from reaching the mainframe that would end Sector 7.  A crowd of onlookers had gathered at the base, thankfully ignored by the advancing Shinra.  Biggs wondered idly if any of them realized the danger they were in.

            It came, another attack.  Three of Shinra's Attack Squad members.  They brandished the cheap, standard issue machine guns that Biggs oh-so-loved, simply because he could withstand about six bullets and walk off mildly wounded.  They weren't very powerful, no.  

            "All your firepower on him!" the leader cried, pointing up at Biggs.  His last words.  The rebel mowed him down with a three round burst, then threw himself to the floor as the salvo of bullets flew overhead.  Aiming through the holes in the railing, Biggs shot one of them in the stomach.  The third, now aware of Biggs's attack position, fired low, trying to hit the crouched man, but AVALANCHE's gunman leapt to his feet and fired again, dropping the enemy.  At the same time, he saw three more soldiers coming.  He did not dare risk firing now; he may hit one of the onlookers.

            _Just wait,_ he coached himself.

            "See him?"

            "Yessir!"

            "Run in with guns blazing!  Let's go!"

            _Not yet…not yet…_

"Fire!  Fire!"

            _Now!_  Biggs unloaded about five shots that flew through the air, slicing into the attackers.  Their screams filled the area and their shots, fired in terror, thunked into the steel around Biggs.  He'd done it again.  He had to get their ammo, though, lest he run out…

            It came from the sky.  He heard the whistle of death and knew he was too late, but turned anyway in a mixture of fear, shock, and distress.  A few sickening noises filled his ears and suddenly there was red on all sides.  He had been hit.

            _NO!_ he screamed mentally, _How could it HAPPEN?  The entire Sector is gonna die!  Jessie!  JESSIE!  Be CAREFUL!  Oh, God, why did we do it…why did we challenge them…_  He slipped into a weak state of unconsciousness just as he heard the footsteps of soldiers passing him by.

            Flying at a moderate altitude, the Shinra Helicopter's occupants smiled grimly.  One of them, a man whose long black hair was being blown around by the wind created by the chopper blades, dramatically blew the smoke away from the barrel of his personalized machine gun.

            "Nice shot, Lord Guv'nor," Reno commended his superior.

            "Hm," Tseng nodded.  "One down."

            "Yes."  Reno turned to the pilot.  "Take us up and around!  I see another one about halfway up!"  The Turk looked to his shining golden nightstick, equipped with very deadly tasers on one end.  "This one is mine.  Make sure the chopper is level with the staircase."

            Jessie has seen the man in the helicopter shoot, but she had no idea who had been hit.  She was preoccupied, anyway, with the flying Aero Combatants.  The machines were small humanoids that held spinning chopper blades to keep afloat.  The blades could also be wielded as powerful double-swords.  She was mainly shooting down as many as she could, Barret and Wedge picking off the ones she missed.  

            From what Jessie could gather, there were two helicopters in the area.  One held two men in dark clothing, she'd seen them clearly.  The other held Shinra soldiers with guns.  They were obviously leading some part of the operation, and as such were AVALANCHE's main targets.  Barrret was doing his best, but he too was losing ammo.  In all seriousness, this was a hopeless fight.

            Since the second reactor bombing things had been going downhill.  Cloud had been missing, Tifa went off in search of Don Corneo, and AVALANCHE had been forced to go into hiding.  Not a day after, Wedge had burst into the bar screaming something about Shinra soldiers at the pillar.  That could only mean one thing and Barret had known it.  So, he'd paraded AVALANCHE over to the pillar to stop the Shinra from succeeding in their plot.  Truthfully, Jessie had never felt so guilty.  Because of her, many people were probably going to die.  Many, many people, all of them innocents.  Things couldn't end the way they were now.  She would fight to the death here.

            She heard the sound of an approaching helicopter.  She looked and breathed a sigh of relief.  It was the same one that had been circling the pillar.  It hadn't ever attacked her, though someone had fired down towards Biggs earlier from that chopper.  So, she tensed.  She realized with a start that the chopper was uncomfortably close to the pillar this time…

            It happened so fast; she never had a chance.  Someone catapulted out of the chopper, right onto the stairs by Jessie.  Before she could react, she felt a horrible pain in her abdomen; something had been slammed into her stomach.  Winded, but not spent, she tried to stand, but suddenly, horrifying pain coursed through her body.  Currents of electricity flew through every part of her, she was aware of nothing, only her slight scream.

            Reno leapt onto the railing and sprang back through the air towards the helicopter, latching onto the rungs on the bottom, happy end of his taser still sparking.  Tseng watched with a bit of awe, realizing again that Reno possessed physical capabilities of which Tseng could never hope to acquire.  That was why he was so useful.

            Reno pulled himself halfway up into the open door of the chopper; Tseng helped him with the rest.  "Enjoy that?"

            "Yep," Reno brushed some dust off his suit coat, "Two down."

            Tseng frowned and looked to the top where Barret and Wedge were still going strong.  "Two to go.  I think we shall make this quick.  Pilot!  Take us up!"

            "What do you have in mind?" Reno raised an eyebrow.

            Tseng didn't answer.  Instead he reached into his pocket and produced a hand grenade the size of a cantaloupe.

            "Hoo boy!" Reno breathed, "You don't take any chances, do ya?"

            "No, no I don't…" Tseng smiled.

            Wedge muttered a curse as he changed magazines yet again.  Shinra's soldiers weren't getting far, but there sure were a lot of them.

            "How ya holdin' up?" asked a nervous Barret.

            "Not so well," Wedge replied.  "They're coming in bigger herds this time.  I wonder what Biggs and Jessie are doing?"

            "Who knows?" Barret spat, shooting down an Aero Combatant.

            "Whoa, chopper!"

            Barret spun to see one of the two annoying helicopters lift above them.  Before he could do anything about it, a large orb flew out of an open door in the chopper.  Barret didn't exactly know what it was, but he dove out of the way anyway.  A wise decision.

            "Wedge!  Wedge, look OUT!"  It was no use.  The orb, a large grenade, it seemed, went off not two feet away from Wedge.  The rebel let out a startled cry and felt himself being lifted into the air, blown clear off the tower by the blast.  

            Barret, stunned and seeing dots, crawled to the railing.  Wedge was falling.  The leader of AVALANCHE realized something horrible then.  Wedge was dead.  Biggs and Jessie were probably dead.  And soon, he would be dead.  Along with everyone else in Sector 7.  Shinra had won.

            _God damn…_ he thought weakly, sinking to his knees, _God DAMN you, Shinra!  Everyone's gonna die now…AVALANCHE…the people of the slums…Tifa…god I hope you don't come back till this big pizza crushes us all…Marlene…oh no, god no, MARLENE!_  He let out a pained cry and rested his head against the railing, waiting.

            "Wedge!"  
            "Oh god, is he still…?"

            "I'm getting a pulse!"

            "Wedge!  Come on, Wedge, wake up!  Please!"  
            Wedge felt nothing.  He could hardly think.  But he could still hear, and he recognized those voices.  His eyes opened slowly and he saw several things he'd not expected.  Firstly, both Cloud and Tifa were there, and for the longest time Wedge had thought them screwed.  Tifa was staring down at him, teary eyed, obviously unprepared for something like this.  Wedge realized with a start that she'd have to watch all of AVALANCHE slip away from her.  

            "Wedge, what happened?" this was Cloud.  The mercenary looked genuinely worried, and that surprised Wedge.  He'd never figured Cloud for the caring type.  The more he thought about it, though, as long as Tifa and Cloud were here…could they help Barret?  If he was still alive?

            "C…Cloud…" he rasped, and just by hearing his voice everyone knew he was a goner.  "Tifa…Barret's up there…"  He broke off into a fit of coughing.  "Help…him…"

            "We will!" Tifa promised him, "I swear it!"  But Wedge wasn't listening any longer.  He no longer had the ability.

            Aeris stood somewhat away from her companions.  She didn't know these people, though she certainly felt for Cloud and Tifa.  

            "Oh, god…" Tifa stood and turned away from Wedge's body.  "Barret…we have to help him…Oh no, Barret…Marlene!"  She turned to Aeris.  "Um, Aeris…I was wondering if you could do something for me."

            "Sure," Aeris agreed instantly, stepping up.  

            "Down that way and to the right," she pointed, "There's a bar called Seventh Heaven.  In there is a little girl…"

            "Say no more," Aeris nodded.  "I'll take her to my house, okay?"

            "Okay, thanks!"  

            "Good luck!" Aeris called as she left.

            Cloud had been staring down the pillar.  "Tifa.  We don't have much time."  He motioned up towards a helicopter.  "The Turks are here."

            "Bastards…" Tifa spat, "They'll pay for this!"

            Cloud blinked.  He thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye.  Someone, actually, up a few staircases.  "Is that…Biggs?"

            Barret heard them coming.  But for some reason, his depression began to dissolve. He would die, but not like this.  He would fight.  He would _kill_.

            The big man pulled himself together and to his feet.  He saw the blue of the MP uniform approaching him.  Roaring gloriously, he charged down the stairs, opening fire.  The MPs shrieked in terror, not suspecting the attack and utterly horrified at what was happening to them.  One by one their body parts were disappearing.  Bullets plowed into and through them.  Barret finished each one by beating them with the metal of his gun-arm, then stomping on their corpses.  Shinra scum.

            Tifa clenched her teeth, determined to be somewhat strong.  Biggs had been shot several times through the shoulder and had been hit twice in the stomach.  Somehow, he was still alive, but that was more a curse than anything.

            "Cloud…?  Tifa…that you?"

            Tifa smiled at him.  "We're here.  We'll stop them."

            "Barret's up there…" he rasped, "Go…help him.  Leave me, go!"

            Cloud feigned a salute and went on ahead, Tifa in silent pursuit.  She was almost afraid to find Jessie.  God, she hoped at least one member of AVALANCHE would pull through.

            A whirring noise stopped them cold.  

            "Cloud…?  What's that?"

            Cloud looked towards the sky.  Five robo-men were dropping from the sky, each twirling a blade like a helicopter rotor.  "Aero Combatants.  One of Shinra's more annoying soldiers."

            "We don't have time for this!"

            "No, we don't."  He poised his sword.  "You have the Lightning Materia.  Cast Bolt a few times.  I'll finish the job.  Go.  Now!"

            "That oughta keep them busy for a while," Reno muttered, glaring down at the newcomers.  It was Seventh Heaven's owner and the man who'd outsmarted Reno in the chapel.  The Turk would take extra joy in eliminating that particular enemy.  "Now if only we could dispatch Wallace…"

            But Tseng wasn't listening.  Instead, he was staring down at something in a manner such as a cow eyes an oncoming train.  "She's _here_."

            "What?  Who?"

            "The Ancient, Reno!  They brought her _here_!"

            Reno stared open mouthed at the flower girl, who was running off into the bowels of Sector 7.  "By god, you're right!  But of course!  That spiky headed guy served as her bodyguard last time!  He must have brought her along!"

            "It will make his death more pleasant to know that…" But Tseng seemed to have lost all interest in the pillar.

            "Tseng, we have a mission to carry out…"

            "Yes we do.  It's been going on for a while now, and I'm tired of losing the quarry.  Can you handle things here?"

            "Of course.  What do you have in mind?"

            "Radio the other helicopter!" the leader of the Turks barked at the pilot, "Have them follow us."

            "It's done," he responded.

            "Good.  Head west, away from the pillar.  We're going to land.  Both of us."

            The two choppers retreated from the battleground, heading east into a small clearing.  The landing was fast and smooth.  

            "Don't cut the engines," Tseng ordered, "We won't be down for long."  They disembarked the vessel.  "Soldiers!" the ebony haired man called to the other chopper, "Come out and with me!"  Five Shinra MPs jumped out and clustered around the two Turks.  "You five will come with me.  We have a new mission.  Reno, you go in the other chopper.  Return to the pillar and destroy it.  Make haste!"  
            "I won't fail," was all the younger man would say, and entered the other chopper.  Seconds later, both lifted off and headed in separate directions.

            "You see her?" Tseng poked his pilot, motioning towards the woman leaving a bar carrying a small child.  "We follow her.  When she stops running, we land and pick her up.  Understood?"

            Cloud and Tifa raced up the stairs, the circulatory fluid of several Aero Combatants splattered on their persons.  They were nearing the sound of gunfire from above that could be nothing other than Barret killing things.  A few more stairs and they came across something they could have done without.

            Jessie was sprawled out limply on the stairs; eyes open yet distant.  She was in bad shape.  Cloud thought he could detect the smell of fried flesh.  She had been electrocuted.  What the hell kind of sadist electrocutes?

            "Cloud…?" Jessie spoke, realizing him.  Her voice wasn't raspy and hard like Biggs and Wedge.  Rather, it was the voice of a depressed person, someone who was more sad than anything else.  "I'd hoped…I'd see you alive…again…"  
            Oh, Cloud realized, she hadn't known about his state since his fall.  "We're all right.  We're going to stop this!"

            "Heh…confident as…usual."

            "Jessie…" Tifa couldn't find words.

            The doomed rebel turned her head slightly towards Tifa.  "It's…all right.  Because of our actions, many…many people died…  This probably is our punishment…"

            She stepped back.  "We'll get them.  I promise!"

            Jessie gave the best nod she could.  "Then…go."

            Cloud offered a sad smile and headed up, Tifa once more following slowly.  Both were angry.  Both had death on their minds.

            Barret couldn't quite believe it.  They had _come!_  Tifa was there, and so was Cloud!  He was alive!  The leader of AVALANCHE let out a whoop and went to meet them.

            "Barret!" Tifa cried as soon as she saw him.  They embraced quickly and Barret looked her over.

            "You ain't hurt!  Guess you found something out from the Don, eh?"

            "Wall Market is on my 'to nuke' list…" Cloud muttered.

            Barret grinned at the mercenary.  "Good to see ya alive, Cloud."  His response was a frown.  "You…see them?"

            "Yeah," Tifa nodded slowly.  "They're in bad shape…Wedge, he…" She couldn't continue.

            Barret growled.  "Damn Shinra…this time they're goin' too far!"

            Cloud's eyes were suddenly glued to an oncoming object.  "We got trouble!"

            Tifa and Barret looked in his direction.  Sure enough, one of the helicopters was speeding right towards them.  Someone was leaning out of an open door, too.  Recognition hit Cloud like a brick.  It was the Turk from the chapel, Reno!  He was behind this!  Cloud felt his spirits absolutely plummet.  The Turk was holding a nightstick that flared with sparks at one end.  A taser.  Reno had gotten his vengeance, Cloud thought as he pictured Jessie.

            "Shinra scum!" Barret howled, sending a volley of bullets up at the Turk.  Reno leapt out of the chopper, weaving through the bullets like something inhuman.  He landed on his feet, right next to Tifa.  She spun in shock, and was greeted with Reno's staff in her stomach.  She lurched back away from her target, who sprinted towards the mainframe.

            "No…!" Tifa choked.  Cloud and Barret ran for Reno, who just pounded away on the keyboards, swiping a strange card through a slit.

            "Too late!" Reno sang, "All I have to do is press this button, and…"

            "No!"

            "Boom!" Reno laughed cruelly, "That's all folks!  Mission accomplished!"

            "We have to stop it!" Tifa screamed at a frozen Barret and Cloud, "Somehow!  Come on, please!"

            "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, madam," Reno said, voice now low and threatening.  "No one gets in the way of Reno and the Turks."  Then, just like that, he wasn't by the mainframe anymore.  Instead, Tifa found herself screaming in pain as Reno introduced his taser to her chest.  Electricity flew through her body, jolting her away from her attacker.

            "Tifa!" Cloud gasped, fumbling for his Restore Materia.  Reno didn't give him a chance.  The agile Turk dashed towards Cloud, spinning his staff like a baton, bashing Cloud in the gut a few times.  Before Cloud could react, the shaft of the weapon found his face.  The mercenary reeled back in shock and pain. 

            Barret let out a mighty cry and let loose a hail of bullets.  Reno rolled out of the way, but nevertheless received a few hits.  His personalized bangle hummed softly, reminding Reno that he couldn't keep doing that.  The big one would be troublesome.  He had to be incapacitated.  

            Barret growled and raised his gun at Reno's face.  He fired three shots.  Reno snatched something from the pocket of his suit and held up his hand.  A bright flash of light filled the area and Barret's deflected bullets clattered to the floor.  

            "Lil' coward!  Hidin behind yer Turk Lights…ARGH!"  Reno had barreled into him, lancing his nightstick into Barret's chest.  Before the large one could react, the Turk planted his feet on Barret's midsection and used him as a springboard to rocket himself away.  Barret staggered, annoyed.  Without missing a beat, Reno turned to Barret and held out the end of his nightstick that did not sport a taser.  From it erupted a mass of golden energies that surrounded and consumed Barret, eventually forming a pyramid around him.

            "ARRUGH!" Barret bellowed, following up with a stream of unfriendly language about Reno's mother.

            "Barret?!" Cloud pulled himself to his feet.

            "Just _try_ to break it!" Reno laughed, pointing his staff at Cloud.

            But the blond man had other ideas.  He channeled his energy into a curtain of magic.  The air around Tifa sparkled with a green light.  She slowly rose to her feet.

            "Help Barret!" Cloud called, "I'll deal with him!"  Reno didn't waste any time.  A beam of energy shot forth at Cloud, who rolled speedily out of the way.  He was on his feet quickly, charging towards Reno.  The Turk didn't wait for the sword to fall.  Rather, he jumped slightly to the right, out of range, and dropped to the floor.  He swung his legs around, sweeping Cloud.  The mercenary fell to the ground with a thud.  He felt Reno's taser upon his back.  He decided to use the same trick Reno had.  He swung his Buster Sword around in an arc towards Reno's legs.  The Turk had no time to think, only to react.  He jumped over the blade, thus removing his staff from Cloud's back.  Soon enough, he felt Cloud's feet crash into his chest.  Reno fell over backwards.

            Tifa pounded the pyramid with all her strength.  With each blow, the barrier around Barret weakened.  The background noise of Reno and Cloud fighting did not help her concentration, either.  Finally, though, one strong blow caused the pyramid to shimmer and fade away.

            "Thanks!" Barret breathed a sigh of relief.  They turned to the others.  Reno had his nightstick up, defending himself from Cloud's slashes.  The staff must have been pretty strong, Barret reasoned, since Cloud's sword wasn't doing much to it.  Occasionally, Reno would swing his staff at Cloud, but no one rarely hit.  It was clear that Reno lacked a projectile weapon.  His weakness, no doubt.

            Tifa glared at the Shinra agent, making use of the Lightning Materia.  She had used it many times on the trip up here, and was feeling quite good at it.  Barret in turn raised his gun.

            Cloud swung hard, catching Reno off guard.  He stumbled backwards, staff taking the full force of the blow.  He raised the nightstick, ready to send another pyramid, but a blast of lightning found him, followed by a barrage of bullets.  All of them hit.  Reno choked once, feeling the blood on his chest, and staggered from the electricity.  A taste of his own medicine, Cloud thought.

            The Turk grumbled obscenities.  His Bangle shuddered continuously; it was spent.  Reno looked towards the regrouping AVALANCHE.  He could still fight, but…how long could he hold out?  A ray of light reflected off his watch, reminding Reno to check it.  It was a specialized watch given to each Turk.  It didn't seem like much to Reno, except he often found good news by looking at it.  This was one such case.  Reno smiled with satisfaction; his mission was over.  He had detained AVALANCHE for far too long.  Even if they had a chance, they could never stop the Plate Release System.  Actually, Reno thought, he hoped they tried.

            "It's been fun!" he boomed happily, despite his obvious injuries, "But it's about that time."  He raised his nightstick to the sky.  The taser flared three times.  The team of rebels didn't realize Reno was summoning his chopper until they saw the wounded Turk running for it.  He leapt clear off the pillar and grabbed onto the rung of the helicopter.  An MP helped him in and the chopper sped off.

            "Daring lil' bastard…" Barret muttered.

            "The computer!" Tifa cried, running for it.  She scanned it, trying to think of something to do.  "God, if only Jessie were here!"

            Cloud frowned, somewhat unbelieving.  There was a sound in the distance, and it was getting closer.  It sounded like…another helicopter?  But…who?  Why?

            "Cloud!" Tifa yelled, "Can't you do something?"

            "Like what?" he retorted, nervous and confused.

            "Yes, like what!" a new voice boomed, none too triumphantly.  It was indeed another chopper and it was lowering towards them.  Standing on the platform above the bottom rungs, there was a dark clothed man with jet-black hair, grinning like a fool.  A Turk, Cloud realized.  An important one, too, from the looks of him.

            "Tseng…" Barret growled, "I was wonderin' if I'd ever get to meet you."

            "I can't deactivate it…" Tifa said sadly before she noticed the Turk.  

            "How true," Tseng smirked.  "Only a Shinra executive can disarm a Plate Release System.  And that one's special, you know.  It'll blow the second some stupid jerk touches it!"

            "You Shinra spy!" Barret spat, raising his gun-arm to the sky.  "I'll fill you with lead!"  He sent a three round burst up at Tseng, who wisely retreated into the inside of the chopper.  He poked his head out, staring down angrily.

            "I wouldn't do that…"

            "Why not?" Barret challenged, readying another burst.

            "Because," Tseng stepped back outside, "You might make me injure our special guest."  He stood to the side so everyone could look into the chopper.

            Cloud recoiled as if struck.  "No!" he whispered fiercely, "God _no_!"

            "Aeris!" Tifa gasped.

            "Who?" Barret asked.

            "She saved Cloud," Tifa explained.

            "What are you going to do with her?" Cloud asked, angry as all hell and showing it.

            "Heh heh," Tseng cackled, "I haven't decided yet."

            "What's that supposed to mean?" Tifa hissed.

            "Whatever our company wants it to mean," Tseng began to gloat, "Our orders were to find and capture the last remaining Ancient.  It's been a long time, but now I can finally report this success to the President."

            "Ancient?" Barret frowned, puzzled.

            "Simpleminded fool!" Tseng scoffed.

            Aeris leaned to her side, sticking her head out of the open door.  "Tifa!  I found her!  She's safe!"  
            "Be _quiet_!" Tseng growled and slapped Aeris, putting his all into it.  The flower girl snapped back, retreating into the chopper.

            Cloud's glare was poison.  "Bastard!  Leave her alone!"

            Tseng just smirked.  "You know, I'd enjoy sitting you down and having a good conversation with you, traitor."

            "Traitor?" Cloud growled.  He'd come to hate that word, for reasons no one else knew.

            "Yes, traitor.  I really would.  Except you seem to have a bit of a dilemma."  He tilted his head towards the top of the pillar, which was beginning to hum.

            "Oh, god…" Tifa felt sick.

            Tseng motioned to Aeris.  "Well, I'm glad you got to see each other one last time!  Farewell, AVALANCHE!"  Tseng took a seat and his chopper gained altitude, then sped off in the same direction Reno's had.  At the same time, the top of the pillar began to spout fire.

            "_SHIT!_" Barret howled, but his emotions died there.  They had failed.  But they were not dead.

            Tifa ran to the computer, pressing buttons frantically.

            "Tifa, no!" Cloud called, "Remember what Tseng said?"

            But she wasn't listening.

            "Hey!" Barret called.  He was holding onto a cable that had fallen from the pillar.  It was attached to another, clear across the sector.  Barret figured they could be George of the Jungle stunt devils.  "All aboard!  We're blowin' this joint!"

            Tifa slammed her fist clear through the mainframe screen and ran to Barret, Cloud following suit.  Tifa climbed on top of Barret, putting her legs over his shoulders and holding onto his neck, careful so as not to choke him.  Cloud wrapped himself around Barret's waist.  They all fit.

            "Geronimo!" Barret cried and jumped off the Sector 7 support pillar.  Everyone held on tight as they rode the cable like a vine.  Behind them, the pillar exploded into a column of fire, and the plate above began to creak…

            High above Midgar, President Shinra stared down at Sector 7 as its edges began to glow with fire.  Two helicopters sped up from the doomed area just as it began to sink.  Seconds later it all disappeared into flames so bright it lit up all of Midgar.

            "Fare thee well, AVALANCHE," Shinra smiled thinly and returned to his desk.  He still had work to do.


	7. Bloodlines

VII-Bloodlines 

Cloud opened his eyes.  He couldn't see anything, and that scared him until he realized he was staring at the ground.  With an angry start, he shot to his feet, instantly regretting it.  A sharp ache traveled up the right side of his body, and he doubled over.

            "Cloud?" Tifa was there suddenly, helping Cloud to his feet, "Are you okay?"

            "Yeah," he lied, fumbling for a healing Potion.  He still had one, thankfully.  That reminded him to check for his sword, which was in place, thank the maker.  He quaffed the potion and looked Tifa over.  She was half covered in soot, though she probably didn't realize it, but other than that she appeared fine.  Cloud cast a look around.  They were, ironically, sprawled out in the playground at the fork in the road that led to Sector 7 or Wall Market.  Sector 7 was no longer accessible, however.  The entrance was now merely a wall of scrap that was still burning from the sector's collapse.  Cloud felt sick just looking at it.

            Barret was staring around as if in a daze.  He was the first one to really understand what had just happened, and he showed it by leaping to his feet.  "Oh…my…_god!_" he whispered hoarsely, and then started bellowing.  "NO!  Bloody HELL, NO!"  He ran past a helpless Cloud and Tifa to the wall of scrap and fell to his knees before it.  "They're all _dead_!  Biggs, Wedge, Jessie…the people of the slums…Marlene!  _Marlene!_"  With an angry cry, Barret let loose a long stream of gunfire at the wall, accomplishing nothing except making himself feel better.

            Tifa stared sadly at Barret.  The man had lost it all, she realized.  His team, his daughter, virtually his life.  Wait…his daughter!  Tifa's mind returned to the pillar.  Aeris had spoken to them.  "Don't worry!  She's safe!"  Those were her words, weren't they?  Tifa had sent her to save Marlene and Aeris had reported that she was safe!  It had to be Marlene!  Marlene was at Aeris's house!  Probably, Tifa settled down substantially, probably she was there.  If the Turks had intercepted Aeris, wouldn't they have taken Marlene, too?  Except, Marlene had not been in the chopper with Aeris and Tseng.  Had they killed her…?  There was only one way to find out.  

            "Barret?"  Tifa walked up to him, "Marlene…I think Marlene may be alive."

            Barret sprang to his feet and looked Tifa dead in the eye.  "What…do you mean?"

            "When we got to the pillar, Aeris was with us," she explained.  "I asked her to go get Marlene from Seventh Heaven and take her somewhere safe.  She agreed."

            Barret began to breathe excitedly.  His daughter was alive!  Maybe, he reminded himself, but he had to find out.  "Where?  Where would she have taken Marlene?"

            "Her house," Cloud piped up, sounding horrible.

            "Cloud?" Tifa asked, worried.  "Are you all right?"

            He was not.  Cloud turned to the entrance to Sector 6.  He started off towards the house.  There were many things he wanted to know, hell, needed to know.  He had to learn more about Aeris, and then he had to save her.  He blinked at the thought.  Aeris was no doubt locked up in Shinra Headquarters, the most powerful building on the planet, and he was planning to go rescue her?  Well, he thought, he really couldn't live with himself if he didn't.  He was supposed to have been her bodyguard, and he'd let the Shinra get her.  How stupid he had been!  Not two seconds after Aeris had run off for Marlene, Cloud had commented on the Turks' presence.  And the Turks were the ones who'd wanted Aeris for years.  How could he have let her run off alone?

            "Yo, Cloud!" Barret thundered after him, "Stop!"  
            "Cloud, wait!"  Tifa followed Barret, "You're going after her, aren't you?"

            He nodded.  "Aeris saved my life.  I can't bloody well leave her to the Shinra.  Besides…" he trailed off.

            "Keep goin'," Barret prodded.

            "The Turks called her an 'Ancient'.  I've had enough experience with Ancients to decide that they're not very high on my likable people list."

            "What?" Tifa frowned, "You know what Tseng was talking about?"

            Cloud would say no more on the matter.  "Come on.  Marlene may be waiting."

            Barret nodded enthusiastically and the team moved through the wreckage that was Sector 6, all the while with the glum knowledge that the place was now better looking than Sector 7.

            "Hoo boy, nice crib!" Barret couldn't resist.  Tifa shot him a look.  Cloud knocked solemnly on the door.

            "Who is it?" asked a weak voice from inside.  Elmyra.

            "It's me, Cloud."

            "Cloud…?  Okay…"  The door opened and what remained of AVALANCHE beheld Aeris's mother.  She was not hurt, but very drained.  She knew, Cloud realized.  "Come in, come in."  Elmyra ushered the three into the house.

            "Ma'am, I'm sorry about…" Cloud started.

            "Oh, it's not any of your faults," Elmyra interrupted.

            Cloud nodded, and then remembered something.  "I'm sorry, you don't know these people.  This is Tifa Lockhart and Barret Wallace, the leaders of AVALANCHE."

            "We ain't nothin' like those Shinra bastard make us out to be!" Barret spat instantly.

            "I know," Elmyra nodded, "I've grown to hate the Shinra just as much as you do.  But…" She frowned.  "What happened in Sector 7?  Shinra claims AVALANCHE destroyed the pillar as a message to the Shinra Company."

            "NO!" Barret growled, "Not at all!  Shinra destroyed that pillar to eliminate AVALANCHE!  The Turks held their own little holocaust a half hour ago, killin' thousands of people just to get us!"  
            "Excuse me," Tifa interrupted, "But…how did you know about Aeris?"

            "Well," Elmyra smiled slightly, "It happened here."  
            "What?" Cloud gasped, "Here?"

            Elmyra nodded.  "Aeris came into the house with a little girl.  Tseng had apparently followed her here.  He stormed inside with a team of soldiers and threatened the girl if Aeris didn't turn out.  In the end, she agreed to go with them as long as they left the girl here."

            Barret had been near dancing throughout the short story.  "Excuse me, but…a little girl?  What did she look like?"

            "Bout this tall, brunette, red clothing."

            He let out a whoop.  "She's here!  Oh thank god!  Can I see her?"

            "Yes," said a somewhat startled Elmyra, "She's right up the stairs in the first room."

            Barret thanked her heartily and followed her directions.

            "Excuse me," Cloud tried to start a different conversation, "But…the Turks keep calling Aeris an Ancient.  What do they mean?"

            Elmyra smiled.  "Aeris is the survivor of a long forgotten race."

            It blew the two away.  "Survivor?" Tifa asked, puzzled, "But…what about you?  Aren't you her mother?"

            "Adoptive," Elmyra conceded.  "It was a very long time ago, when the war was still going on."

            "Would you please tell us?" Cloud asked.

            "Sure.  My husband had been drafted into Shinra's army.  He was sent off to some far away place called Wutai.  About a year later, I received a notice saying he was coming home on leave.  I went to the train station to meet him, but…my husband never came back.  Day after day, I returned to the station, waiting for him.  One day, though, I came across a woman."  She seemed uncomfortable all of a sudden.  "She was in horrible shape.  Something had made her so sick…she could barely talk.  A little girl was running around, asking people for help.  She dragged me over to the woman, who just looked at me, pleading with her eyes.  'Please, take Aeris somewhere safe,' was all she could say.

            "I was lonely.  I had no husband to take care of, and I'd never had a child.  Maybe it was that, or maybe it was something else, but for some reason I took Aeris into my house.  I tried to do the same with the mother, but quite frankly, she was dead in my arms by the time I got home.  She's buried in the garden out back…"

            Cloud smiled sympathetically.  "It must've been confusing for Aeris."

            "Actually?" Elmyra shook her head, "Aeris seemed to know her mother very well.  She would rattle on and on about her mother.  But strangely, she wasn't very depressed when she died.  She said she wasn't sad because her mother had already returned to the Planet, whatever that meant.  She was a strange child, in many ways."

            Cloud frowned involuntarily.  He was matching these sentences to another's.  "It must have been strange living with her."

            "Heh, well," Elmyra smiled weakly.  "I pretended not to notice.  She tried so hard to hide it, you see.  I'd hear noises coming from her room and I'd ask her what she was doing and she'd reply that she was speaking with the planet.  I really didn't understand her, then.

            "One day, a man came to our door.  He said his name was Tseng, and he was from the Shinra.  He told us that they had been looking for Aeris for quite some time.  I remember there was nothing threatening about him.  He knelt down on front of Aeris and told her that she was a very special child.  She would lead the people of the planet to a land of supreme happiness, someplace called the Promised Land.

            "Aeris vehemently replied that she wasn't the Ancient they said she was.  It was comical, a girl no more than 10 years old yelling at someone twice her age.  Tseng asked her if she had any strange dreams, or if people talked to her when she was alone.  She was scared then, and ran off.  I kept quiet.  I knew of her strange abilities, but I wasn't about to let the Shinra take her.  Aeris had told me she'd escaped from some kind of laboratory, and the story seemed to scream Shinra.  I did get Tseng to tell me a little more.  The Ancients were a race that lived nomadically.  They traveled from place to place, living as one with the planet.  When their long journey came to an end, they would find the 'Promised Land' of legend.  Shinra wants to find that Promised Land, for their own reasons no doubt."

            "Do you…think they'll hurt Aeris?" Tifa asked.

            "No," Elmyra shook her head.  "The Shinra needed Aeris.  I doubt they'd harm her.  But still…"

            Cloud stood.  "I'm going to check on Barret, then we're going to make up a plan."  
            "For what?" Elmyra asked.

            "We're going after Aeris."

            "What?!  That's Shinra's Headquarters you're talking about!"

            "Don't worry, ma'am," Tifa reassured, "We have our reasons."

            Cloud left the two to talk and climbed the staircase.  What he saw served to warm his heart a bit.  Barret had scooped up Marlene in a huge bear hug and had been holding her ever since.

            "Daddy!" Marlene protested, "Your whisker's scratch!"

            Barret just laughed, obviously near tears.  Cloud smiled slightly.  Barret finally released his daughter and turned to face Cloud.  

            "We gotta help her," he said flatly.  "She saved Marlene; there's no way in _hell _I'll let the Shinra keep her."

            "We'll be going straight into the heart of Shinra," Cloud warned.

            "Good," Barret growled.  "I'm up for a holocaust of my own."  He turned to Marlene.  "You stay here, all right?  Daddy's goin' somewhere for a while, but I'll be back!  Okay?"

            "Okay!" Marlene nodded enthusiastically, attention turning to one of Aeris's dolls.  She was so young, so blind to everything happening around her.  Good, Cloud thought to himself, she was better off innocent.  Barret thundered down the stairs, but Marlene stopped Cloud.

            "Aeris was asking me all kinds of questions."

            "Like what?" Cloud humored her.

            "Like about you," she giggled, "I think she liiikes you!"

            Cloud felt his face heating up, but cut it off with a laugh and decided to give Marlene something to chew on while they were gone.  "Let's hope."

            "Ooooh!" Marlene bounced on the bed and squealed, grinning at Cloud.  "I won't tell Tifa."

            Cloud just smirked and waved goodbye.

            Barret was having a conversation with Elmyra.

            "Thanks again for keeping her," he said gratefully.

            "It's no problem, but you better come back alive!" she warned, "Don't deprive that girl of a father!"

            "I'm sorry, I know what ya mean.  But…I gotta keep fightin'.  Don't get me wrong!  I love my daughter and I wanna be a good father, but…I gotta fight.  For this planet, for Marlene, for everyone."

            Elmyra nodded.  "I think I understand."  She turned to Cloud.  "Are you sure you're up to this?"

            "Positive," he replied, "We all owe Aeris a great deal."

            "Plus, I got a burnin' desire to tangle with some Shinra troops!" Barret patted his gun arm.

            "Do you need a place to stay?" Elmyra offered, "You've had a long day and you all look spent…"

            "We have to hurry," Cloud insisted.

            "Cloud," Tifa sighed a bit, "We're no good to anyone now."

            "I could try to make room for the three of you," Elmyra clarified her offer.

            "Uh," Barret grinned sheepishly, "I don't really feel comfortable doin' that to ya.  Besides, I really doubt we could fit…"

            "Well," Elmyra thought, "There's an inn a ways south.  You really should rest up."

            "Thanks," Tifa nodded, "We will."

            "Good luck," Aeris's stepmother smiled, "And thank you."

            They slept for five hours, roughly.  Barret slept the longest, being the most exhausted out of them.  But once one woke up it was too difficult to go back to sleep.  Cloud paid the innkeeper and turned to the others.

            "I got some new bangles for us last night," he started, handing each one a Titan Bangle.  "Put it on.  Each has two linked Materia slots."

            "You're the Materia expert," Barret stated.

            Cloud nodded, taking the cue. "Barret, I'm giving you the Fire and Ice Materias.  Shinra likes machines, but who knows what freaks they'll have patrolling their base?  Tifa, you get Bolt and All.  Link 'em.  If you see a machine, use 'em.  I'll keep the Restore and Sense."

            "I thought Aeris had some of these," Tifa frowned.

            "She dropped her stuff off with Marlene," Barret explained.

            "Now," Cloud led them outside.  "First things first, we have to _get _to the Headquarters, which is real high up."

            "There used to be a train that went to the Headquarters," Tifa observed.  "It ran from Wall Market, but the track was recently destroyed with the rise of rebel groups.  Like us."

            "Well," Barret said, "Let's head on down to Wall Market.  Maybe we'll find something."

            The hardest part of going to Wall Market was not going through Sector 6, but passing Sector 7.  Barret had shivered involuntarily.  Cloud could understand.  Somewhere in there, Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, Barret's men, lay dead.  Shinra would pay for that.

            "Well now," the tailor scratched his head, "That track was destroyed some time ago."  

            "Where was it?"  Tifa was doing the talking, since Cloud rightfully didn't feel comfortable in the area and Barret was outside, still rolling with laughter from the tailor's story about Cloud.  At least he'd stopped howling, Cloud thought with a bit of anger.

            "Back by Corneo's place, hang a right before entering the mansion.  You won't run into any trouble; Corneo disappeared last night.  Him and all his guards.  I dunno what you and your friend there did, but it freaked the Don good."

            "Thanks," Tifa nodded.

            "By the way," the tailor added, "If you're thinking of going up to the Shinra place, you might wanna stop by the weapon shop here.  The folks don't think much of the owner, but he has some batteries ya may need.  There's a lot of electrical stuff by what remains of the track.  You should be able to climb it if ya have a bit of extra power."

            "I'll keep it in mind!" Tifa smiled, "Thanks!"

            "Hoo boy, I can't _believe _what you did!"

            "Not another word!"

            "Hah hah!  I'm sorry, I jes' can't picture you in a dress!"

            "Well I'm glad you find humor in my discomfort."

            "Bet yer' white ass I do!"  
            "Hey!  If it weren't for me doing that, Tifa might be pregnant with Corneo's child!"  That one earned Cloud a punch in the shoulder.

            "Shut up," said a perturbed Tifa, "I don't want to think about that."

            "Yo, we are here!"  Barret looked around.  They were facing a large concrete wall.

            "Wow."  Cloud just frowned.  "How hope inspiring."

            "Hey!" Tifa tapped a thick golden wire, "We can climb this!"  
            "What?" Cloud gasped, "That frail thing?"

            "Yeah!" Tifa nodded, "We go one at a time to the top.  There's a few more rails we can climb, then there's that fan."

            "No prob," Barret patted the three large batteries he had placed in a backpack.  "Look, Cloud, maybe it don't look like much to you, but to me, that's a golden, shiny wire of hope!"

            Cloud recoiled.  "God, that was bad!  But get the message."  To accentuate the fact, he took hold of the wire and pulled himself up.  "Come on."

            Tifa nodded and started up as Cloud neared the top of the wall.  Then it was Barret's turn.  His grin faded as he looked up.

            "God dammit….I forgot how much I hate heights…"

            They climbed and they climbed, latching onto the remains of rails, precariously high, until they reached a large fan blade.  Barret popped in a battery and the fan began to spin, lodging itself into a heap of scrap across a gap, providing a walking path.  The team ran across the blade.  Other such uses of intelligence and batteries took them up the road of trash, closer and closer to the Shinra Headquarters building.  

            The three stared at a pipe, part of a mechanism above, swinging like a pendulum.

            "We can ride it to the other side," Cloud declared.  "We just have to jump at the right time."  He waited for the 'right time' and leaped off the platform the three were standing on, grabbed onto the pipe, and jumped off onto the other platform.  "Like that."

            Tifa didn't wait to ponder.  She repeated Cloud's motions, leaping over the pit of death and grabbing onto the pole.  She dropped beside Cloud.  Barret hesitated.  He let the pole come back towards him, then jumped…a bit too late.  He fell, arms flailing, luckily grabbing onto a protruding rail.

            "HELP!"

            Cloud jammed his sword into the ground for leverage and leaned on it.  "Tifa, take my hand and hold on _tight_!  Lower yourself down towards him!"

            Tifa did so, reluctantly.  Barret latched onto her leg, using his gun-arm as a claw to help him scale.  Tifa felt like she was being ripped apart; Barret was not a small man.  But Cloud was able to yank the both of them to the top and they collapsed, exhausted.

            "You know…" Tifa gasped for breath, "Next time, I'm just gonna let you die."

            "Next time…?" Barret's stomach rolled.

            It was huge.  That was the only way to describe it.  It was huge and it glowed with the light of a million bulbs and lamps, and the aura of power was choking.

            "Damn…I feel all humble," Barret breathed.

            "You ever been here before, Cloud?"

            "SOLDIER?" Barret punctuated, and there was no insult intended.

            "No," Cloud shook his head.  He had never been to the Shinra Headquarters building, though he had always dreamed of it.  For many reasons.

            "Well," Barret armed his gun, "Let's get this show on the road!"

            "Wait!" Tifa gasped, "You can't mean to tell me you're just gonna run in there and start shooting!"

            "Well you got a better idea?" Barret retorted.

            "Yeah!  There has to be some better way!  A quieter way."

            "I don't want to create a scene until Aeris is safe," Cloud said quietly…

            "Thank you!" Tifa shook her head, "Come on, maybe there's a staircase somewhere!"

            "A staircase!" Barret scoffed, "Hah!  But all right…"

            They did find a staircase.  There was an alley to the right of the building and a back entrance.  Barret blew away the lock and AVALANCHE started upstairs.

            "Be ready," Cloud warned, "Soon we'll be facing all the Shinra have to offer."

            "Right," Barret and Tifa said in unison.  They started running mindlessly, moving their legs became involuntary, up and up and up.  

            "I wonder where they're keeping Aeris," Tifa mused.

            "The first sixty floors of this place are open to all employees," Cloud explained, "Everything higher is sealed."

            "So, you've been here before?" Barret asked.

            "No, no I haven't.  That's just common knowledge among SOLDIERS."

            "Wait," Barret shook his head, "You said…how many floors?"

            "Sixty plus," Cloud replied.

            "Sixty PLUS?" Barret almost froze, "And we gotta CLIMB?"

            "Barret…" Tifa said, tired of him already.

            "We cover two or three floors with each staircase," Cloud tried to soften the blow.  Barret nodded weakly.

            They continued for another ten minutes or so when the complaining started.

            "Damn," Barret huffed, "These stairs don't end, do they?"

            "It can't be that much longer," Tifa reassured.  

            Barret nodded and kept quiet.  Cloud had been doing the same, since he found it easier to be a robot and move mindlessly up the stairs when he concentrated on his objectives.  What were they, really?  Find Aeris, of course.  But what first?  How could they actually get into the area where Shinra was holding Aeris?  There would be some combat, to be sure.  Once they had a lock on Aeris, they would retrieve her and evacuate as soon as possible.

            "Are we there yet?"  Finally, someone had asked it, that dreadful, evil question.

            "Barret!" Tifa snarled, "Don't EVEN start!"

            Two staircases up.

            "Are we there yet?"

            "NO!" Tifa growled this time, "We're not even close to being there, so don't ask again, all right?"

            Five staircases up.

            "Damn…Marlene, oh hell, I'll never get outta here…glad I got to see ya one last time…"

            "Stop being a jackass!" Tifa refrained from hitting him.

            "Listen," Cloud spoke at last, "Once we're in there, we have to sneak into the private floors.  We'll need to collect keycards from various places on each floor."

            "Do we have to climb stairs to get to the floors?"  Barret.  Who else?

            "No, they have elevators."  Cloud didn't give Barret a chance to complain.  "After we find Aeris, we get the hell out of this building as soon as possible.  If we run into any Shinra executives, we eliminate them in stride, but only after we save Aeris."

            "Gotcha," Barret nodded, though both of his comrades knew how hard it would be for Barret to refrain from shooting the executives as soon as he saw them.

            It was another two staircases before they came to a large steel door.

            "We're HERE!" Barret whooped.

            "Keep it DOWN!" Cloud hissed, "Who knows what's behind this door!"  
            "Are we ready?" Tifa asked.

            "Catch your breath," Cloud ordered.

            "Yo," the red clad guard radioed his ally in the security booth, "I'm pulling out for a bit.  I got a report to write.  Be back in a few!"

            "Gotcha," the security chief of the 61st floor replied, buzzing his friend out.  He scanned the screens in his office, finding nothing unusual, and reclined in his chair.  Another hour and he could bail back to Wall Market, maybe stop by the Honeybee Inn for a good time.

            A crash resounded throughout the room.  He heard the murmurs of the guards in the corridors, but he couldn't take any action.  A salvo of bullets ripped through the glass around him.  He felt a little pressure from behind, and suddenly he couldn't feel at all.

            Barret's gun smoked and his face was stone serious.  The Shinra soldiers gaped at him as if he was an abomination.  For the rest of the day, Barret decided, he could be.  And he would be.


	8. Mission Impossible

VIII-Mission Impossible? 

            "Let's get this party started!" Barret roared, letting the gunfire start.  The Shinra guards were obviously unprepared; they ran for the nearest exit like frightened children.  Barret mowed them down before they got there.

            "Nice shooting," Cloud complimented, then moved to a small, shining square on the ground.  "I don't believe it, but we will begin our mission with relative ease.  This is the first keycard."

            "That was…cinchy!" Tifa was a bit surprised.

            "Well, let's USE the damn thing!" Barret barked.  Cloud nodded and went to an elevator.  Once everyone was inside, he swiped the keycard and the elevator moved up a floor.  The team emerged into a large lobby full of Shinra employees.  Not a weapon was in sight.

            "Behave," Cloud ordered.  Barret nodded and stayed hidden in shadows.  Cloud and Tifa went out to scout the area.  Since neither of them had a big gun attached to his arm, they wouldn't alarm anyone.  Though the sight of Cloud's sword might do the trick.

            Cloud looked around the room.  From what he could tell, these were the commoners of Shinra.  None appeared threatening, and they were chattering like working people did.

            "Hey!" a new voice broke in, "You two!  Can I help you?"  Cloud turned around to face a small man in a brown suit coat.

            "Yes," Tifa spoke, a little too quickly, "Do you know where we can find someone named Aeris?"  And horribly obvious was she.

            "Aeris…?" the man frowned.  "Oh, yeah, Aeris!  She's down a few floors, doing good for her first week."

            "Excuse me…?" Cloud broke in.

            "She's a secretary, started a week ago.  Oh, I see, we're talking about two different people!"  Cloud's spirits sunk.  "Hey…are you the elevator guys?"

            "Yeah," Tifa nodded quickly, "How did ya know?"

            "You have the look," he replied, irritating Cloud.  "Here's the keycard to the next level.  Make sure it's fixed up by morning, all right?"

            "Yeah…" Cloud took the keycard like a birthday present and went back to Barret.  
            "That easy, man?" the big man asked.

            "Yep.  Now come on."

            The 62nd floor was every bit as unthreatening as the last floor.  Cloud and company found themselves in a large room with a maze of locked doors leading to an elevator on the other side.  

            "Well, Mr. Leader," Barret smirked, "Got any ideas?"

            "I thought you were the leader," Cloud protested.

            "Of AVALANCHE," Barret corrected, "Not the 'Save the Flower Girl' campaign.  But don't get me wrong.  I want her alive and well as much as you do.  I owe that gal a lot."

            "We all do," Tifa agreed, and surveyed the area.  "Cloud, look.  There's a series of vents that line the ceiling."  She kicked a grate on the wall.  "We can get in this way."

            "Not more vents…" Barret complained.

            "You wanted to save the flower girl?" Cloud challenged.

            "After you, Mr. Leader!"

            "I'll go first," Tifa shut them up, ruining the metal grate with a single kick.  She hoisted herself up and started crawling.  Cloud followed swiftly, but Barret of course had trouble.

            "Shit, man, I really hate this…" Barret muttered, squeezing through.  His predicament proved amusing to his comrades.  "Somethin' funny?"

            "No, no…" Cloud replied, stifling another snicker.

            "Boys, boys, behave," Tifa shook her head.  "We're at the end!  Jump down!"

            It was fun falling through the ceiling.  Cloud, Tifa, and Barret found themselves staring right at the staircase to the next level.

            "No keycard?" Barret questioned as he opened the door at the top effortlessly.

            "No complaining…" Cloud muttered, pushing through.

            The next floor was a recreation center.  Yeah, a recreation center.  Didn't you hear me?  It was a Shinra recreation center where people with no lives worked out/slept so they could be near work when they had to report for their 23-hour workdays.

            "Hey hey!" a clerk called to them, "You guys look spent!  Come on over and have a soda!"

            "Uh, no thanks…" Cloud replied.

            "Hey, all right.  Why ya here?"

            "Well," Barret said slyly, "We got an audience with a big shot."

            "Really?" the clerk was shocked, "Well how bout that!  We got Prez Shinra at the top, a meeting room two floors below, and Mayor Domino's right up stairs!  Go on up, there ain't no keycard needed."

            _Hell yes!_ Cloud smirked and followed the man's advice.  He was thoroughly disappointed with the Shinra Company's security.

            The next floor was a library.  Upon further examination, AVALANCHE determined it to be an archive of Midgar and the Shin-Ra Company itself.

            "A whole wealth of knowledge…" Tifa breathed.

            "And none we give a damn about!" Barret chimed in, feigning happiness.

            "So many different sections," Cloud muttered, "Let's have a look around.  May as well browse."

            "Maybe we'll find something useful?" Tifa said hopefully.

            They accessed all kinds of files regarding the Shinra.  The Urban Development department had files such as "Midgar Sector 4, History" and "Midgar Budget Allowances", but nothing useful.  Public Safety had stuff like "Turks Program" and "Law Enforcement Record".  Barret scoffed at that one.  Weapons Development gave way to "SOLDIER" and "Weapon", whatever _that _was.  Air and Space was pretty much useless, carrying files on the Rocket Town Space Program.  Science and Technology gave way to more "Weapon" Material and "The Jenova Project".  A chill went down Cloud's spine.

            "Dude…you all right?" Barret asked.

            "I'm fine," Cloud assured them.  He reached out for the file on the Jenova Project like it was some holy article.  He placed it carefully in the pouch that he kept all his potions and unused Materia in.  He would have to read it.  It would answer so much.

            "Hey!" a gruff voice broke in.

            AVALANCHE spun around, nervous as hell. A small man equipped with a submachine gun was there, eying them coldly.  

            "A man downstairs says someone wants an audience with the Mayor of Midgar.  That you?"

            _No.  _"Yes," Cloud lied.

            "Come with me," he said, "No, on second thought, you first.  I'll tell you where to go from behind."

            "Hart?  The hell are these people?"

            Hart, the small, gruff man, tuned to let the rebels face Mayor Domino.

            "Holy hell!  AVALANCHE!" Domino could not be fooled.  The tall, well-dressed man leaned back in shock.

            "Hands up and on your heads!" Hart shouted, raising his weapon to fire.

            "Like hell!" Barret turned to counter.

            "Stop!" Domino boomed.  "Stop, Hart!  I need these people.  Alive."

            "What…?" Hart was confused.

            "We won't help the Shinra," Cloud snapped, "We mean to destroy them entirely!"

            "Good, very nice, a ha." Domino nodded as if it didn't concern him.

            "Don't you get it?" Barret roared, "Yo' ass is screwed!"

            "Why?" Domino protested, "I'm not of the Shinra.  I hate them as much as you do!"  
            "Lyin' sack of political shit!" Barret spat.

            "Hah!" Domino laughed, "Politics!  I'm supposed to be a mayor!  Some mayor.  All I do is sit here keeping track of records, _archives!_" Domino was genuinely mad now.  "That's the work of a _librarian!_  I never get any input in Shinra's decisions, no influence in policies, _absolutely no control_ over Midgar, and I'm mocked by my 'superiors' for my views." He spoke vehemently.  "Reeve and I were the only ones against the pillar assault, and we were almost ruined for it!"  
            "Reeve?" Tifa asked.

            "Head of the Urban Development Department," Barret clarified.  "Whuddya know?  Some Shinra execs have a heart.  I dunno.  Sounds slightly convenient."

            "I'll prove it!" Domino raved, running to his desk.  He retrieved a keycard and ran to Cloud.  "Take it!  Use the staircase on the other end of the floor!  Hart will take you.  Get up there and give those arrogant blockhead bastards something fun to chew on!"

            "Yes _sir!_" Cloud stared at the card a bit before pocketing it.

            "One more thing," Hart stopped them.  He pulled out a blue, glowing orb.  "This is an 'Elemental' Materia.  Alone, it's useless, but when paired with a Materia of a certain element, it does special things."

            "Like?" Tifa challenged.

            "Like," Hart clarified, "If you pair it with a Fire Materia in your weapon, your attacks will do a bit of fire based damage.  If you couple it with a Fire Materia in your armor, you become more resistant to fire based attacks."

            "I have no other Materia, so its useless to me," Domino dropped it in Cloud's hand.  "Make use if it, will ya?"

            "Will do," Barret nodded slowly, not wanting to trust the Shinra, but feeling he had to.

            Hart led them from Domino's office to the staircase.  

            "You really are going to tackle the Shinra Kings, aintcha?"

            Cloud nodded.

            "They're egomaniacs," Hart said slowly, "They killed a lot of people with the pillar collapse."  He fished out a blue stone of his own and gave it to Cloud.  "This is my own Materia.  An 'All' type.  Get those bastards."

            "Thanks," Cloud nodded.

            "Really," Barret broke in, surprising them all, "Thanks.  You an' yer boss man.  I didn't wanna believe that there was any controversy with the pillar assault.  Makes it easier to do what has to be done."

            Hart nodded.  "We're not angels."

            AVALANCHE started upstairs.  

            "What do we do with the Materia…?" Tifa asked.

            "I'll couple the All with my Restore," Cloud decided.

            "What about the Elemental?" Barret asked.

            "No use for it now," Cloud shrugged.

            "What about Lightning?" Barret asked again, "How bout electric attacks?"

            "No," Tifa shook her head, "Then I can't blast everything in a room to bits."

            The next floor quickly became icky and bad.  They were looking around a large room with several small cubicles surrounding a large room in the center.  AVALANCHE moved to the room and beheld a glowing green model of Midgar.

            "There are pieces missing," Tifa noticed immediately.

            True, they were.  The model was missing chunks that made up Sectors 4, 5, and 6.

            "Model of Midgar," Barret mused, "Made out of Mako energy sucked right out of the earth."

            "There are chests in the cubicles around this room," Tifa noted.  "I'll bet at least one will hold a keycard."

            "But they're all locked!" Barret reminded her.

            "It's worth a shot," Cloud decided.  "We'll split up.  Find some chests and try to open them.  And be careful…" A feeling of danger crept into Cloud's blood.  "I don't think we're alone on this floor."

            Tifa ran down to the southern end of the chamber.  She had two cubicles to choose from, one right, one left.  She flipped a coin in her mind and went left.  Inside the cubicle, she found two steel chests.  A strange feeling found her as she moved to one of the chests.  She was being watched.  Tifa spun around, but nothing was there.  Odd.  She turned back to the chest and tried to pry it open, having no luck.  It was locked.  She went to the other one and with a mighty kick wrenched it open.  It wasn't locked.  How…cool.

            This time, the feeling was real.  She spun around just in time to see a column of razors fly past her, cutting slightly into her bare stomach.

            "Argh!" she gasped, jumping back and sizing up her opponent.  It was certified Shinra, AKA, freakish.  Tifa beheld a lengthy eel creature lined with blades.  It looked most like a floating saw.  "Damn!" she growled.  The eel returned the favor with a sinister hiss and sped towards Tifa again.  This time, she rolled to the side and lashed out with her foot, catching the creature in its broad side.  It hissed louder now, coiling like a snake and springing at Tifa.  She rolled away again, but felt the blades on the creature brush past her.  A close call.

            Tifa leapt to her feet and began staring down the creature, lightning in mind.  Her Materia glowed a bright green, and a thin bolt of lightning crashed down upon the monster.  It flailed and hissed, totally uncoordinated.  Tifa ran up to it and scissor kicked its head, smashing it.  Ooze and brain goop splattered everywhere.  Tifa stifled a groan at the sight and looked inside the opened chest.  A glowing green piece of the Midgar puzzle lay inside.  The Shinra must not have gotten around to completing it, for some reason.  Tifa took the piece out and ran outside the cubicle.

            "Barret!" she called out to him, spotting him across the room, "I got one!"  
            "Put it in!" Barret ordered, retreating into a cubicle to explore.

            Tifa looked to the center room and almost started on her way, but the air around her suddenly turned chilling.  She heard the hisses first.  Two bladed eel creatures sped past her, one in front, the other behind her, all in a failed attempt to saw her in half.  Nevertheless, the bladed spines prickled across her back and stomach, teasing the slight wound that was already there.  Tifa inhaled sharply at the pain, then glared at the retreating eels.  They were coming around for another pass.  This time, she'd be ready.

            Barret cursed at the locked chest and opened fire on it.  No dice.

            "Damn, man…" he grumbled, "This shouldn't be goin on!  I came here to blow away Shinra dudes, not play pirate, blowin up treasure chests and building a puzzle…"

            His thoughts were rudely interrupted by a little whirring sound.  Barret turned to behold a floating blue orb that rode on air, spinning in mindless circles, but eying Barret with a single green eye.

            "Hey there, lil' fella…" Barret said nervously, raising his gun arm, "Got anything to tell me?"

            The device whirred and sputtered a bit.

            "Really?  Hey, come on now, R2D2, English!"

            The blue thing didn't take that kindly for some reason.  It gave off a hail of sparks and a bright glow.  Barret felt the area around him suddenly compress, pressing him into two-dimensions like a steamroller, then exploding back into proportion.  Barret collapsed, out of breath and shocked.  The blue orb dove at him, zapping him with little blue lasers that burned like a hot iron.  Barret let out a howl and scrambled across the floor on his knees, turning to fire when he reached the wall.  He cursed as the beams found his chest, causing none too little pain.  Barret lay there for a while; playing dead but secretly charging up a Fire spell.  He let it fly, incinerating the creature, which squealed and beeped in its own little language.  Barret pulled himself to the feet and leveled his gun-arm at the stunned little thing.  He fired.

            Tifa burst into the room, shielding her eyes from the bright green glow of the Midgar model.  She had been trying to figure out what the Shinra had used this floor for.  Her best guess was that it was for the Urban Development Department to analyze Midgar via the model and make construction or repair decisions.  

            She moved to the first hole in the puzzle.  Midgar was one big octagon, which meant that all Sectors had the exact same shape.  This particular sector could be any one.  She plugged the glowing green "Sector" into place.

            Barret sat there, staring blankly at the wall.  Whatever the orb had done to him was showing.  His eyesight was blurry, he had a headache, and the area around him kept expanding before his eyes.  He was recovering, however, and actually snapped to attention when a click filled his eardrums.  It came from one of the chests.

            The big man pulled himself sloppily to his feet and walked towards the chest.  He opened it.  For some reason, it had just decided to break open.  He hated it when metal used its imagination.  Inside, there was another piece to the glowing Midgar puzzle.

            Barret shook his head to clear the remaining cobwebs and started for the central room.  He found Tifa resting in a corner.

            "Ya dead?"

            "No," she shook her head, "But getting tired."

            "Don't," Barret popped in his piece of the model, "This party's jes' getting started!  Now if only Cloud would make some use of his white ass…"

            He followed his ears to the cubicle where he'd heard the slight click.  Cloud kicked in the door and beheld as single chest.  He moved carefully for it, finding it unlocked.  Inside, he found his own piece of the giant puzzle in the middle of the chamber.

            Pocketing the glowing Material, Cloud turned to leave.  Once outside, he heard a buzzing sound.  He turned to the left, and to his annoyance, a rather large steel beast was hovering towards him, propelled by a spinning razor blade for a base.

            "Moth Slasher?" Cloud mumbled, listening to the information gathered by his Sense Materia.  "Damn, I don't have time for this…"  But he'd have to make time.  The buzz saw with a torso flew at him, swiping with his base at the mercenary.  Cloud rolled to the side, but not before the blade sliced into his leg.  With a sharp cry, Cloud pressed his sword to his shin, Restore Materia glowing bright.  He had to at least stop the bleeding.  Shinra's Moth Slasher didn't waste much time.  It dove in for another attack, but Cloud met it with a wide, angry swipe.  The Machine's makeshift head was severed from its body, clattering noisily to the floor.  But it wasn't stopping.  It was making a beeline for Cloud's location, the head's last command still in effect throughout the body: saw that guy in half.  Cloud said a quick prayer and held the broadside of his sword out in front of him.  He took a breath and ran straight at the machine, meeting its charge.  The Moth Slasher crashed into the sword, losing all force yet still locked in an eternal struggle forward.  Cloud defied the laws of eternity and slashed clear through it, parting its body.

            "Well here he comes to save the day!" Barret jeered with a smirk as soon as Cloud came into view.

            "I do what I can," Cloud offered.  He surveyed his team.  "Barret, you look drunk.  Tifa, you're wounded."

            "Not really," she waved it off, "Literally just a scratch.  Painful bastard, though."

            "We'll live…I think," Barret offered, "I got hit with some kind of magic.  Like, everything around me expanded and blew back into proportion.  It hurt."

            "Gravity," Cloud muttered, "Be careful.  Gravity isn't lethal, but it will disorient the hell out of you."

            "TELL me about it!" Barret swore, "Now let's finish off this giant jigsaw!  I hope to god it was worth it!"

            Cloud nodded and popped in his piece.  To their relief, a light click was heard in the background.

            "South," Tifa ordered.  They headed down to a previously locked chest and opened it.  Cloud pocketed the next keycard and smiled.  

            "Shinra's defense systems are finally showing, and they suck."

            "Holy hell, boy, this is bad…" Barret surveyed the floor.  This, if anything, was the actual Shinra Headquarters.  Computers were everywhere on the floor, and not just dinky laptops but huge mainframes that controlled all of Midgar's power.  A large meeting room was in the center of the floor, and to top it off, there was a bathroom.  Plus, a helluva lotta people.

            "These are suits," Tifa noticed, "They'll definitely freak out if they see us up here, unlike their hired men downstairs."

            "So we sneak," Cloud ordered, "We've come too far to get caught now."

            "Let him round the corner," Barret motioned to a guard rounding the corner.

            The other two nodded and snuck down the hall.  No one in any rooms adjoining the hall noticed them.  They were too busy ruling the world.  Cloud peeked around the corner. 

            "He's going around."

            "Keep going," Barret nodded.

            They snuck quietly around the corner, looking at the guard down the hall.  He was entering the bathroom.  How convenient.  

            "Who are you?" the confused guard gasped as they ran into the washroom.  "The hell are you doing here?"

            "Takin' a leak," Barret answered before blasting the guard.

            "In here," Tifa called, "In the stall!"

            "No thanks, sister!" Barret chided.

            "Pervert.  Get in here, there's a vent."

            "Good," Cloud nodded, "We can spy on the Shinra meeting room.  Something's happening there."

            "How do you know?" Barret scratched his head, "I didn't see nothing."

            "There were voices coming from the room," Cloud responded, "I recognized Heidegger's voice.  You really can't miss it."

            "Come on," Tifa urged, this vent leads right above them!  If we're quiet, we can spy on them."

            The table took up the entire room.  It had been designed to seat the heads of Shin-Ra and all their apprentices, but lately, it was just used by the executives.  Now, the top five were sitting together, reviewing several things.

            "Estimated damage to Sector 7 is reported to be in the range of five to seven billion gil," Head of Urban Development, Reeve, stated.  "The estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is…"

            "We're not going to rebuild," President Shinra interrupted.

            "Wha…what?" Reeve was stunned, as were most of his comrades.

            "You heard me," Shinra repeated himself anyway, "We're not going to rebuild Sector 7.  We're moving on to bigger and better things."

            "Really now?" asked a confused Head of Public Safety, Heidegger, shifting his weight in his chair, "We openly displayed our intents to rebuild the homes down there.  Now I clearly could care less about that aspect, but the people down there will.  They'll be downright pissed off!"

            "He's right," agreed the head of Weapon Development, Scarlet, a tall woman in a sparkling crimson dress, her icy blue eyes piercing into Shinra, "Do you really want to risk another rebellion?"

            Shinra was quiet.  He scanned the faces of those present.  "Reeve.  Up the Mako Production Rate of the reactors by 10%."

            "A rate hike?" Reeve was startled, "Sir, that will only further drive people away from Shinra!"  
            "They won't flee," President Shinra argued, "They'll trust Shinra even more!"

            "So what's our grand plan?" Scarlet asked critically, leaning back in her chair and brushing a lock of golden hair out of her face.

            "We're going to revive the Neo Midgar project," Shinra stated.

            Heidegger stared at his boss as if he'd proposed they should all dance naked under a hail of flames.  "We trashed that project years ago for many reasons!"

            "Yeah!" Reeve surprised himself by agreeing with Heidegger, "We didn't have enough money to finance Neo Midgar, nor did we know where to make it!"

            "The Promised Land," Shinra reminded his associates.

            "The Promised Land!  An old wives tale!" Scarlet scoffed.

            "But there is a land with incredibly strong Mako concentrations," Shinra pointed out, "And we finally have the means to discover it!"

            "The Ancient…" Heidegger mused.

            "The Ancients will lead the planet to a place of eternal happiness," Shinra repeated the line as if it were holy.

            "But," a tired Reeve winced, "How?  How can we possibly get her to cooperate?"

            "Never mind," Shinra shook his head, "But it will happen.  Trust me.  We'll find the Promised Land and build Neo Midgar there, and it will happen sooner than you think!  Up the rates of the reactors!"

            "Rate hike, rate hike, tra la la," a small, fat man sang.  Palmer, the head of the dormant Air and Space Division, finally spoke up.  "Please give some of the profits to the Space Division!"

            Shinra was silent for a moment.  Then, "Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra funds."  Palmer deflated.

            "Thank you, sir," Scarlet smiled slyly.

            "Sir!" a guard dressed in a black coat knocked on the wall to announce his presence, "Dr. Hojo is here to see you!"

            "What perfect timing!" Shinra leaned back, "Bring him in!"  All heads turned to the door as the walking mass of complexes that was Hojo entered the room.  He was an unremarkable man as far as appearances went, but as far as brains and disposition, Hojo was world renowned as both a genius and a demon.  He seemed glued to his alabaster lab coat, never taking it off even to sleep, or so the rumor went.  His skin was a funny mix of colors that came from a lifetime of hovering above various chemicals, but now it was its usual pale self.  A long, greasy black ponytail adorned his head, and he wore thick glasses.  He looked most like an evil owl from the front.  Indeed, the very air seemed cold around Hojo, the head of Shinra's Science and Technology department.

            "Good day, lady and gentlemen," Hojo spoke.  His voice was low and somewhat seductive, yet it possessed a slight squeal that most evil stereotypes were equipped with.  The best word to describe the voice…and the man…was eerie.

            "Professor Hojo!" Shinra boomed, "You have news for us?"  
            "I don't have anything earthshaking," Hojo warned, "But I figured I should report anyway."

            Shinra nodded.  "The girl?"

            "Yes," Hojo nodded.  "As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother.  The signs of the Ancients tend to decrease with each new generation.  We've estimated the difference to be about 45 percent."

            "Right, right," Shinra tried to get to something interesting.  "How long will the research take?"

            Hojo flinched.  Obviously, he had hoped he would not be asked that question.  He looked up and took a breath.  "Probably 140 years."  The air around the Shin-Ra executives died with their hopes.  "Certainly longer than any of our lifetimes, or that of the specimen.  That's why we're thinking of breeding her."

            "Breeding her?" Reeve asked critically.

            "Yes," Hojo smiled slightly, "I have a suitable combination that will serve to create a new specimen that will withstand a very long period of time.  My successors will finish the job with the new specimen."

            "Is she talking?"  Shinra's voice was suddenly cold.

            "About Ancient…stuff?" Hojo frowned.  "No.  I haven't really asked."

            "Make her.  Force her."  Shinra was dead serious.  "It is imperative that we get all the information about the Promised Land from her."

            Hojo bit his tongue with another frown.  He, like most people, had heard of the Promised Land from stories and legends, then finally from one of his "specimens".  Hojo had no imagination whatsoever, being a hardcore scientist, and therefore made it common knowledge exactly what he thought of the Promised Land of legend, and he was trying very hard not to frown in disapproval at his boss.  "I'll get on it.  Currently, though, I'm preparing her to meet with another of my favorite specimens.  If possible, I want the breeding business to get over with as soon as possible."  Grimaces appeared on everyone's face, including Hojo's.  "But fear not.  You will have your Promised Land."   _When you die, you're more than welcome to swim across the oceans of the Lifestream until you find your Promised Land, you old fool!_  Hojo would have loved to say that.

            "Very well," Shinra nodded.  "Thank you, Professor.  You may return to your work.  And the rest of you," he glanced around, "This meeting is adjourned."

            "Yes sir," Heidegger said wearily.  He glanced at Scarlet as Shinra left the room.  "I hope he knows what he's doing."

            "He thinks he does, and it fills our pockets, doesn't it?" Scarlet said in a tone that could have been taken as friendly with someone else, but her voice was simply too cold for that particular emotion to seep into it.

            "I agree!" Palmer waddled to the door, "If anyone needs me, I'll be down in the rec center!"

            "Gya ha ha!" Heidegger boomed as Palmer disappeared out the door, "He'll just gorge himself on the candy from the vending machines!"

            "I wonder if saturated fat even has any effect on him anymore?" Scarlet laughed.  "Phew!" she looked up at the vent, crinkling her nose.  "It stinks."

            "Yeah, it does," Heidegger winced, "Let's go before our royal noses fall off."

            "Kya ha!  God forbid!" Scarlet and Heidegger walked out laughing.

            "She _smelt _us?" Tifa muttered as she dropped back down into the bathroom.

            "Can we help it if we can't afford the perfumes and colognes those monarchs got?" Barret was in bad shape.  "Royal noses!  I'll blow your royal noses clear of your faces!"  And he had almost done so.  It had taken lots of whispered consolations from Cloud and Tifa to keep Barret from blowing a hole in the head of everyone down there.  There could be no commotion until Aeris was safe.

            "We will," Cloud promised them.  "The Shin-Ra will get their due.  Soon."

            "Cloud?" Tifa peeked her head out the door, "Hojo's still there.  He's talking to some lab assistants."

            "Really…" Cloud moved to the door and had a look.  The scientist was indeed there, finishing a conversation.

            "Where ya think he'll go?" Barret asked, "He knows where Aeris is, ya know."

            "Yeah!" Cloud nodded enthusiastically.  "He'll probably be heading for his lab, two floors up."

            "Where's the stairs?" Barret asked.

            "Right where we came in," Cloud replied.

            "Here comes a guard!" Tifa hissed.  

            "Do ya wanna risk noise?" Barret patted his gun.

            "No," Cloud answered, looking to Tifa.  She nodded, cracking her knuckles.

            He'd thought he'd heard a noise nearby, but he couldn't be sure.   Probably just a computer.  He bristled involuntarily as Doctor/Professor/Whatever Hojo walked by.  Unlike most Shinra executives, Hojo would look at everyone in the area, even the guards that no self-respecting king would pay any attention to, taking everything in.  It was eerie, the guard thought.  The scientist flashed his keycard and the door to the next floor opened.  They ran on timers now.  After another ten or so seconds, the door would close.

            Abruptly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.  Odd, he hadn't heard anyone coming.  As soon as he whirled, though, a fist equipped with a metal knuckle crashed into his face.  He was out cold.

            "Hurry!" Cloud ordered, "Run to the stairs!"  AVALANCHE charged through the doorway just as it whooshed shut.

            Immediately, they knew that this was not a very fun floor to be on.  The temperature was lower, for one, but the most obvious thing was that there were no people.  In sight, anyway.  The clicking of computer keyboards was evident, so people had to be working somewhere, but there were no patrolling guards.  Good.  Hojo was already down the hall and rounding a corner.

            "Follow him," Cloud ordered, "But be careful.  Hojo's a real bastard.  God knows what he's got lurking around here."

            "You've heard of him before?" Barret frowned.

            "Yeah," Cloud replied, "I always wondered what he looked like."

            "Enough," Tifa interrupted, sensing some sadness in Cloud's eyes, and this was not the time for that, though she was sympathetic to him.  "Let's go!"  

            AVALANCHE trailed the man in the white coat to a large, dark area lined with wooden crates.  In the center of the room, a large holding tube loomed high, connecting with Hojo's Lab on the floor above them.

            "Get _down!_" Tifa hissed as she saw a messenger coming towards them.  He passed AVALANCHE right by, going straight for Hojo, who was amusing himself by staring at the specimen inside the holding tank.  "God…" Tifa breathed when she saw it.  It was a beast, quite frankly, a wild dog.  It had fiery red fur and a full red mane, like a lion.  She frowned.  Was it a dog or a cat?  Either way, red was the dominant color.  Even its eyes glowed crimson.  On its side, the letters R.E.D. X.I.I.I were tattooed.

            "Professor Hojo!" the messenger began, "Preparations are complete!  We await your arrival on the above floor."

            Hojo nodded, not really hearing, but understanding nonetheless.  "Time to get to work, my beautiful little specimen."  He turned to the elevator in the corner and called back to his helper.  "Set up the controls and bring the Ancient in!"

            "Yes sir!" he returned the way he came and Hojo entered the elevator.  Tifa stood and walked slowly, cautiously, towards the holding tank.

            "It lookin' deadly to ya?" Barret asked.

            Tifa just stared pitifully at the creature.  "It looks like it's on a long chain of tranquillizers or something.  I wonder if it's going to be part of some biological experiment?"

            Barret shuddered.  "This whole place gives me the willies!  And that doctor!  He looks like he could build Frankenstein in 8.2 seconds flat!  How do ya know that freak, Cloud?  Hey, Cloud!"   
            He wasn't listening.  The mercenary was staring as if hypnotized at a large silver tank.  There was a faint red light emitting from it, and as soon as Tifa and Barret saw it, chills ran down their spines, though they could not know why.  Cloud walked up to it.  Right above a viewing window there was a small plaque with the letters J-E-N-O-V-A etched into it.

            "Jenova?" Tifa mumbled the word, ringing a bell somewhere.

            Cloud nodded and started mustering up his strength.  He peered through the viewing window.  Seconds later, he reeled back in a mixture of horror and disgust.

            "What, dude?" Barret pressed, "What's in there?"

            "Look for yourself," Cloud's voice was hoarse.

            Barret stared for a while at the steel tank, wondering what could be so horrible.  Finally, he walked towards it, shivering involuntarily as he got closer.  The red glow was getting brighter all of a sudden, and Barret thought he could make out a faint heartbeat.  He took a breath and looked through a viewer.

            It was appalling.  He beheld a glowing purple creature crammed into the small confines of the tank.  It appeared to be a continuous muscle, lacking bones, and possessing an odd torso.  Its shoulders were huge, ugly, and distorted.  And it currently had no head.

            Barret reeled.  "My god!  That headless freak!"

            "Cloud?" Tifa cried suddenly, "Are you ok?!"

            Cloud was writhing slightly, crumpled into a heap, clutching his skull in pain.  His eyes were pressed tightly shut, and he was quite uncomfortable.  Tifa ran over to him, placing her hands on his shoulders and shaking him slightly.

            "Hey!" she pleaded, "Come on, snap out of it!"

            Cloud's eyes snapped wide open, staring at the silver tank like it was something straight out of hell.  "Let's go," he said quietly, "This place…it isn't safe."  He rose and started for the elevator.  Tifa and Barret weren't going t challenge his decision.  They followed close behind.

            Cloud stopped before entering the elevator.  In the corner, he saw a glittering orb of green Materia.  He didn't want to stay down here any longer, but he spared the time to pick it up.

            "Whatcha got?" Barret asked.

            "I feel sick," Cloud replied, rolling the Materia in his hand, "Poison."

            "Woo!" Barret smirked, "I'll take that if you don't mind!"

            Cloud handed it to him.  "Use it on human opponents," he instructed, "But avoid using it on most monsters.  A good deal of them are either immune to poison or they'll absorb the spell.  And all robots are immune to it."

            "Cheap," Barret muttered, "But all right."

            They arrived in Hojo's lab seconds later.  The first thing Cloud saw both relieved him and worried him greatly.  

            "It's her!" he sighed in relief, "It's Aeris!"

            "Where?" Tifa asked.

            "Look.  The center of the room.  She's in the holding tank!"

            "Man, what's that freak doctor gonna do to her?" Barret grumbled.

            "Nothing," Cloud promised himself, "Come on, we're getting her out of this place!"  
            The lab was a large, domed room that was lit up entirely.  A circle of computers and other machines surrounded a glass holding cylinder identical to the one on the floor below it.  Perhaps they were linked?  There was a series of catwalks that made up a "second floor" of the room, all leading to a large sanctuary of machinery and a massive mainframe.  Hojo's heaven, no doubt.  Hojo himself was down in front of the holding tank, typing something or other into one of the computers.  Aeris sat quietly in the tank, looking at Hojo with great distrust.  She appeared unharmed, but that didn't mean she wasn't.

            Cloud, Tifa, and Barret ran straight for Hojo, startling the scientist, Aeris, and Hojo's messenger/guard, who stood in the corner on the higher level.

            "Who are you?" Hojo's face was twisted in annoyance.

            "We're the ones who got drunk in Wall Market a few hours ago, and we stopped by to annihilate you shit heads!" Barret growled, leveling his gun at Hojo.

            "Cloud!" Aeris jumped to her feet, looking over the room's new occupants.

            "Hojo," Cloud stated, "We're taking Aeris home."

            "Aeris?" Hojo mused, "Is that her name?"

            "Now," Cloud punctuated with a glare.

            Hojo rolled his eyes, completely unnerved.  "Are you going to kill me?"

            "I would like nothing more," Barret smiled happily.

            Hojo raised an eyebrow.  "I don't think you should."  He motioned to the computers around him, then finally to Aeris.  "The machinery here that controls the fate of the Ancient is extremely delicate.  Without me, who would operate it?  Hmm?"

            Cloud stiffened.  "He's right…"

            "Rule one," Hojo started, "Never tell an enemy he's right.  It makes you appear weak."

            "You sound like some damn teacher," Barret spat.

            "I'm too smart to be a teacher," Hojo said flatly.

            "To hell with you!" Tifa yelled, "Let her go!"

            "Rule two," Hojo kept going, "Empty threats are useless, especially when used by an amateur."

            "Amateur?" Tifa tilted her head, "Those guys might kill you, but I can just beat you into a bloody pulp a few times until you release her.  And I will!"

            Hojo sighed.  "Enough.  I'm beginning my experiment now."  Cloud felt himself getting nervous, and more so was Aeris, fidgeting in the tank, wondering what fun this sadist had in store for her.  "Bring in the specimen!"

            The floor of the tank whooshed, and a part of it slid back.  Aeris pressed herself to the glass wall, the fear showing on her face.  Seconds later, the large red beast was in the tank with Aeris, and it was looking at her rather strangely.

            "My god!" Cloud raised his voice, "What are you _doing?_"

            The fire-red beast leapt at Aeris, pressing her more into the wall, smacking her with its paws.

            "It's mauling her!" Tifa gasped.

            "Do not fret so," Hojo sighed again in distaste with his audience, "Both of these animals are on the verge of extinction!  I am merely helping them survive the test of time."

            Tifa felt sick, staring at the man in front of her that didn't even seem human any more.  "Aeris isn't an animal!  She's a human being, a living, conscious human being!"

            "She is also the last of the Ancients," Hojo pointed out.  Then, with a cruel grin: "But not for long."

            Then Cloud noticed something.  The beast was attacking Aeris, but it was slapping, not slashing.  And it wasn't even really mauling her, but butting her with its head.  It was almost as if it was putting on a show to fool someone.  Maybe…Hojo?

            "I've seen enough!" Barret boomed.

            "What are you going to do?" Tifa asked nervously.

            Barret raised his gun-arm to the top of the tank.  "Get back, y'all!"  A stream of gunfire followed his words.

            "No!" Hojo cried, "Stop this!"  He could say no more.  A bright flash lit up the room and in another flash, this time a red blur, the beast was on top of Hojo, clawing and biting furiously.

            "What happened?" Tifa called as the light died down.

            "Hello?" Aeris called out as she readjusted her eyes, "Anyone alive?"

            "Aeris!" Cloud ran into the tank, helping her out.

            "Cloud…" she said softly, "I knew you'd come…"  It was clear that she was using all her discipline to refrain from hugging him.

            "Well we couldn't just up and ditch you, could we?"

            "Of course not," she smiled, "You're _supposed _to be my bodyguard!"

            "Did they hurt you?" he asked, concerned.

            "No, no…I thought that lion thing would, but he didn't…really."

            They were interrupted when Hojo let out a roar, pulling back his legs and extending them into the "lion thing" sending it flying back into the glass wall of the tank.  All present gasped slightly at the unexpected power in Hojo's limbs.  Like most scientists, he'd appeared frail at first glance.

            "This is a very violent specimen," Hojo spat as he banged some buttons on one of the computers, "He'll keep you busy for a good while!"

            "What…?" Cloud asked nervously, drawing his sword.

            "Enjoy!" Hojo laughed and ran to a corner, disappearing through an unseen door.

            "The hell does Dr. Frankenstein there mean by-" Barret was cut off when the elevator inside the tank activated.  It was bringing something up.

            The fire-red beast peered around curiously, as if sizing up Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and Aeris.  It turned to Cloud, correctly identifying him as the leader.  Then, it surprised everyone there by speaking in a low, masculine voice.

            "He's a very powerful 'specimen'.  Perhaps I can be of service to you in defeating him?"

            "Wha…?" Barret recoiled, "It can _talk_?"

            "_He_ can talk," the beast replied calmly, "Probably better than most humans."

            "You seem…intelligent…" Tifa said slowly.

            "Probably more so than most humans," he replied again, this time with a little grin.  "Oh, I'm sorry, you might think me cocky after a remark like that."

            "Not at all," Cloud's attention returned to the elevator.  "If you were offering your help, we'll gladly accept it."

            "My pleasure," the beast replied.

            Cloud looked around, noticing that Aeris had no weapon.  She was only in more danger here.  "Tifa!  Take Aeris somewhere safe!"

            "All right," she replied, "You gonna be okay here?"

            "Yes, now go!"  Cloud turned his attention to the coming battle.

            "Come on," Aeris directed Tifa, "I know where they stashed my weapon."

            "Lead the way."  They were off.

            Barret stiffened in disgust.  The enemy in front of them was hideous.  Picture a humanoid creature with a bulging greenish blue body with no visible eyes, two gnarled, twisted horns atop its head, and clawed hands carrying a large sword.

            "The hell is _that?_" he shuddered.

            Cloud placed his hand on the yellow Sense Materia, looking directly at the monster.  "SAMPLE.  Brilliant name, eh?"  He turned to the animal beside him.  "What's your name?"

            "Hojo has named me Red XIII," he replied, "But you can call me whatever you wish."

            "Red's fine with us.  So, Red, you ready to kill this thing?"

            In response, Red XIII reared back on his hind legs and roared, startling the creature, SAMPLE, who had been summing up its enemies.  When Red came down, a burst of flames crashed into SAMPLE, sending it toppling back into the glass walls of the tank.  The sturdy glass shattered as the monster fell into it, but SAMPLE kept its footing.  

            "You have Materia?" Barret asked, surprised.

            "Fire-All and Sense," Red replied quickly, then readied another attack.  Cloud didn't wait.  He charged SAMPLE, sword flying out.  Enraged, the beast met Cloud's sword with its own, and the strength of the counterattack was notable.  Cloud almost lost hold of his weapon.  Red's burst of flames caught the monster off guard again, and it let out a horrible cry from what could be considered a mouth.

            "Freak," Barret grumbled as he unloaded his gun-arm at SAMPLE, angering it further.  Finally launching his own attack the monster slammed his sword into the ground.  A curtain of explosive energies spread out from where the sword met the ground, hitting all three combatants hard.  Red was the first one on his feet, quickly charging at SAMPLE.  The monster's sword went flying every which way, but the agile creature easily evaded each swipe, darting from side to side, weaving its way to SAMPLE.  He pounced, smashing his large headdress into SAMPLE's chest.  A small explosion emitted from the connection, and Red flew back through the air, curled up and spinning like a ball, and landed on his feet.

            Barret had been working up an Ice spell, and let it fly into SAMPLE.  Cloud had just been observing, waiting patiently for a chance to strike or for someone to heal.  But Red seemed more than capable of taking care of himself.  He was a mysterious creature, in many ways.  Cloud's thoughts were interrupted when a bolt of fire crashed into his arm.  It torched his flesh nicely, but it could only be a 1st degree burn or less.  With a snarl, Cloud spun around to face what looked like a one-eyed silver beetle.  He noticed two more, hidden in the shadows.  They were SAMPLE's henchmen, ready to defend their master.  

            "Barret!" he called, "We got company!"

            "I see 'em!" Barret called, ducking to avoid another beam of flames from the red eye of one beetle, "Handle Scary Spice over there!  I'll cover ya!"

            Cloud nodded and broke into a run for SAMPLE itself.  Barret spat a curse and started shooting at one of the beetles, surprising it.  It was a smoking wreck a few seconds later.  The others hopped around like jumping beans, impossible to hit with a gun.  So Barret tried the next best thing.  Before the Ice spell could be launched, however, its enemy fire exploded into Barret's chest.

            "Argh!" the big man cried as he staggered back.  His chest stung a good deal, and his heart was racing, but the Fire spell wasn't powerful enough to do any serious damage to him.  Too many hits, however, and he could roast to death, a trick he'd practiced himself many times on different foes.  He had the Materia right now, but for some reason, Ice seemed to be the better bet.  A curtain of green surrounded him and a column of ice crashed into the small machine, freezing its joints.  The third one bounced towards him, hopping up and down too fast to shoot at.  Tired and annoyed, Barret waited for the beetle to get close, then smacked it with the steel of his gun-arm, sending it clear across the room like some kind of baseball.  It didn't get up.

            SAMPLE's sword attack hit again, the explosive energies jolting Red into a crumpled heap.  Cloud had hidden behind his sword again, but the force not only jerked his blade out of he ground but rattled Cloud's body like a maraca.  He looked to a panting Red, who was a bit spent.  Cloud concentrated on healing wounds, and the Restore Materia glowed bright.  The All's energies seeped into the spell, and both Cloud and Red felt rejuvenated.  

            "Impressive!" Red complimented, meaning it.  

            "What now?" Cloud asked nervously, seeing SAMPLE stomping towards them.

            "Stall him!" Red growled, "I'll take care of the rest!"

            The ex-SOLDIER nodded, putting to use his training and ran around SAMPLE, making a circle around it.  The dense monster's attention was entirely on Cloud, following it with its eyes or whatever it used to see.  Seconds later, Cloud heard a roar and turned to see Red, encased in a glowing red aura, speed at SAMPLE with the effect of a fireball.  His fangs severed into the beast as he hit, jolting SAMPLE back and tearing though it at the same time.  Black blood oozed from the wounds and SAMPLE freaked, screaming as if possessed.  

            "Impressive," Cloud commented.

            "A Limit skill," Red explained, "Sled Fang."

            "Impressive," Cloud repeated.  

            Before another move could be made, a quick series of lightning bolts flew through the air.  SAMPLE screamed again as they connected, sending a column of electricity up its body.  It collapsed in a heap and was still.

            "And here I was afraid I'd miss the fun part," Tifa smirked, moving towards her comrades, Aeris in pursuit.

            "Phew, good to see ya, sistah!" Barret clapped her on the back.

            "We've got what we came for," Cloud spoke, casting a relieved look at Aeris, who now held her Striking Staff, "Now let's get out of here."

            "We have all the keycards from this floor down," Tifa pointed out, "Let's hitch a ride on the elevator."

            "There's one on the floor below us," said Red, much to the surprise of Aeris.

            "You can talk…wow…" she was awed, but still obviously nervous around the creature.

            "I apologize for my behavior in the tank," Red pasted a little smile on his canine face, "It was only necessary to throw off Hojo.  I hope I didn't harm you…?"

            "No, no," Aeris replied, breathing easy again, a forgiving smile on her face, "Thanks."   She looked around.  "All of you, thanks!"

            "No problem," Tifa nodded.

            "Thank _you_," Barret spoke up, "You saved my daughter.  I'd probably have died to help you."

            "Uh," Aeris shrugged, a bit embarrassed, "Thanks…your daughter's a nice girl."

            They were quiet for a while.  Then, Cloud snapped to action.

            "Get going," Cloud waved Tifa and Aeris off, "We'll meet up with you at the elevator."

            "Tyin' up some loose ends," Barret explained, looking nervously around the room.

            "Yes," Red nodded, "I sense it too…"

            Tifa nodded.  "We'll meet at the elevator.  Don't take too long!"

            "What?  Impossible!"

            "It _happened_, you imbecile!"

            "It's utterly impossible," the gruff voice repeated over the intercom, "We would have known!  Our security systems are top notch!"

            "Listen, you cow!  They were right in front of me!  They trashed my SAMPLE!  And get this, oh great deity, they took my Ancient!"

            The other end was quiet.  "No…oh, no…"

            "Don't just sit there you _fool!_  Get to work!  Catch them!  Use the Turks if you have to!  _Don't let them get away!_"

            "The magic word is 'decaf', Hojo!" the other man spat, "I'll catch them!"

            "Get on it, Heidegger!"  Hojo moved to kill the connection.  "I've waited far too long for this Ancient, the answer to all my questions!"

            Cloud, Red, and Barret snuck through the crates with a cat's agility…literally, in Red's case.  Cloud had cast a worried look at the Jenova tank, but nothing more.  They moved carefully, yet quickly.  A confrontation was to be avoided if possible, but AVALANCHE had its quarry.  They could kill anything now.

            They slipped into the glass elevator, all feeling a sense of great accomplishment.

            "We did it!" laughed an energetic Barret, "We invaded the castle of death and came out with everything we wanted!"

            The doors closed.

            "I suppose you did."  Everyone went rigid.

            "Down, please," another new voice, this one deep and low.  The first one was a familiar, hated voice.

            Cloud turned around slowly, as did his counterparts.  Standing before them was a tall man with shoulder length black hair, and another stocky, bald man wearing dark shades.

            "Did I stutter…?" the bald one said in his low tone.

            "…No," Cloud conceded wisely.  The Turks had moved brilliantly, following them into the elevator where they had no room to fight or run.  Cloud pushed past a glowering Barret and a quiet Red and hit the button.

            "Was it fun for you?" Tseng hissed, angry that someone had dared to free the prey he'd spent so long trying to catch, "I'm sure it was a real thrill!"

            "Yeah, it was, ya Shinra scum!" Barret retorted, "My only regret is that I didn't put a bullet in Prez Shinra's head when I had the chance."

            "So you got to the president?" asked the other one, "I'm impressed."

            "Don't be, Rude," Tseng said to his partner/underling/whatever, "They're gods, they are."

            "We'll be taking a private elevator on a lower level," Rude explained, "From then on, you'll have another 'chance' at the Prez, Wallace.  But I really don't think you'll have any luck."

            Tseng grinned.  "This time, we won't forget to exterminate thee, AVALANCHE!"


	9. Walk Softly, and Carry A Big Sword

IX-Walk Softly, and Carry a Big Sword 

            The President of the dominating Shin-Ra Company glared disapprovingly at the prisoners before him.  Cloud, Barret, Tifa, and Red stood, or crouched in Red's case, facing the massive desk with the short man behind it.

            "Where's Aeris…?" the blonde one piped up when he saw no sign of her.

            "In a safe place," General Heidegger answered for Shinra.

            "We'll take good care of her, as well as you," Tseng said with a smirk.  The leader of the Turks and his henchman Rude, Reno's partner, stood on either side of reigning Heidegger, who had positioned himself behind the prisoners in case they tried to run.  If they chose to, a bullet would be in their skulls instantly, courtesy of Tseng's automatic machine pistol.

            "Greetings, AVALANCHE!" said an energetic President Shinra, "Nice to see you and all that jazz."  He frowned at Cloud, Barret, and Tifa.  "I'm surprised at you three troublemakers.  First you bomb two of my reactors, then kill Airbuster, hammer young Reno, then interfere with the fate of the planet?"

            "Damn right!" Barret boomed, startling the Turks and putting them on edge, "We plan on interfering with _your _future, too, ya fat geezer!"

            Shinra took no heed of the insults.  "And you, Red XIII?  Why did you leave your cage?"  That invoked a growl.

            "You bastard," Tifa breathed, "Your reactors are killing this planet.  Airbuster was a hunk of junk assassin.  _Reno _is responsible for the deaths of thousands!  I hope he spontaneously combusts!"

            "Watch it," Rude barked.

            "Oh yes, Turks do stick up for each other, don't they?  All buddy-buddy with each other!"   Barret was speaking in a low, threatening tone.

            Tseng let out a low growl and tightened his grip on his weapon.  Heidegger cleared his throat, a signal for Shinra to hurry it up.

            "Hrm," the stout man acknowledged his adviser, "I believe it is about time to conclude this session."  He scanned his audience. AVALANCHE was a sad group now, in the shadow of defeat.  Finally, the most dangerous rebels to date would be put to rest.  But not yet.  It had been a long day.  "We'll do something with you tomorrow.  It's too late at night to think any."  He turned to Heidegger, Rude, and Tseng.  "Heidegger, take your Turks and their prisoners to their cells."

            "Hold on, you pig!" Barret roared, struggling against the chains that bound his arms together behind his back, "I got things I want to say to you!"  He could do no more, as Rude came upon him, using his strength to restrain Barret from movement towards the President.

            "That is all," Shinra repeated as Rude dragged Barret off after his comrades, "If you have anything else to say, talk to my secretary."  With that, President Shinra returned to his work.

            It was dark and cold, but not damp, Cloud thought numbly and without feeling.  All emotion seemed to have been drained from him after their capture.  They had done so well on the way up, even though it had been easy.  Too good to be true, of course.  Who had alerted the Turks?  Was it Domino?  The Midgar Mayor who had acted like a friend?  Hart?  Or maybe Hojo after he escaped?

            Cloud sat in the corner of the rectangular cell, having offered the "bed" to Tifa, his cellmate who was now fumbling clumsily with a Potion, trying to treat the stinging cuts on her abdomen.  

            "Argh," she conceded, frustrated.

            "Here," Cloud strode over and poured the Potion carefully.  It landed on her stomach rather than the floor, where Tifa's efforts lay.  "There, see?" he said, monotonous as ever as he rubbed in the solution a little, "Magic."  
            "Thanks…" Tifa sighed, leaning back against the wall.  

            "Pissed off?" Cloud asked as he took a seat on the floor, also leaning against the wall.

            "Pissed off, frustrated, depressed, it goes on," Tifa replied, "But not scared, for some reason.  Guess it just hasn't hit yet that we're screwed."  She smiled, wryly.  "You, too?"

            "Yeah," he nodded.  "I don't really want to believe it.  It seems like I've pulled through tighter spaces than this, and yet, I'm screwed here instead of there.  And at the hands of my old employers, at that."

            "Why did you quit, anyway?"  She'd never asked that question before.

            Cloud frowned, his mind a blur.  Why had he quit, again?  "Something…about morals, I think…"  An unseen flash of light blinded Cloud, and the blurs in his mind seemed to fabricate into a logical reason.  Yes…that had been it, right?  It had to be.

            "Morals…?" Tifa frowned, unimpressed.  She quickly became a bit nervous.  The look in Cloud's eyes was distant, and the young mercenary was shivering…but it wasn't _that _cold, was it?  She realized with a bit of embarrassment that she was wearing much less than Cloud was, and she wasn't cold.  "Cloud…never mind, it's okay.  Are you?  Okay, I mean?"

            A similar flash went off inside Cloud's head, and the confused one leaned back slowly, so as not to startle Tifa any further.  The blurs returned, and soon Cloud found himself thinking about Aeris.

            "I'm fine…it's Aeris I'm worried about."

            "Hmm?" a muffled voice came from behind the thin wall, "Cloud…?"

            Cloud blinked.  There were three cells in this block adjoining each other.  Had Heidegger placed Aeris right _next _to them?  What kind of _amateur, stupid_…

            "Aeris…?" Cloud replied slowly, feeling a bit stupid for talking to a wall.

            "Hrm," she said, "Guess it is you…I just woke up, thought I heard someone…"

            Tifa frowned at Shin-Ra's intelligence.  _What had Heidegger been smoking?  _AVALANCHE was a group of effective terrorists.  Sticking them next to the Shinra's pride and joy was, well…a dumb move.

            "Are you all right?" Cloud asked.

            "Yeah," Aeris answered slowly.  "I think."

            "Your bodyguard screwed up again," Cloud laughed softly.       

            "Nah," Aeris shook her head though he couldn't see it.  Then, a bit mischievously, "The deal was for one date, right?"

            "AHEM," Tifa spoke up.

            "Oh…!  Tifa?" Aeris squeaked, "Ah, sorry, I…didn't know you were there!"

            "Riiight," Tifa replied slowly and walked over to the wall so she could hear better.  "Aeris, tell me something.  What exactly is so special about the Ancients?"

            "Uh," Aeris didn't sound too sure of herself, "We can trace our roots back to the Planet's first inhabitants…but big deal for the Shinra.  They want us because the Ancients had several different talents regarding the Planet itself."  She was getting in to her explanation now, and began to speak as if reciting some script that had been drafted by sacred hands.  "The Ancients and the Planet were one.  They spoke to each other, even.  The Ancients, or Cetra, as they called themselves, were nomadic.  They went from place to place, living strictly off the land.  They never hurt the Planet, and in turn the Planet provided them with what they needed to survive.  And at the end of the Cetra's long, hard journey, they would find themselves in a land of supreme happiness, dubbed the Promised Land."  She paused.  "That's what President Shinra wants."

            "Of course," Tifa nodded, taking in the information, "The Promised Land is bound to be full of the Planet's energy…or…"

            "Mako Energy," Cloud sighed, "And the President wants to build another Midgar there."

            "I'll die before I let him do it," Aeris stated flatly, "I'm not positive such land exists, but…if it does, the Shinra cannot…_will not_…pollute it."

            "You said…" Tifa asked, "That the Ancients…uh, the Cetra, could speak with the Planet."

            "Yes," Aeris replied, "The souls in the Lifestream can communicate with them directly, as well as the Planet itself."

            "Lifestream…?" Tifa asked.

            Aeris shrugged to herself.  "I wouldn't know.  In layman's terms, I can speak with a few dead people."

            "Woo…" Cloud shivered, "Sounds like fun."

            "What is the Planet saying now?" Tifa again.

            Aeris laughed softly.  "It's full of people and noisy.  I can't make anything out anymore."

            They were quiet for a while.  Then Cloud announced that he was going to sleep.  The other two agreed and soon their cells were quiet.

            A cell over, Barret stared quietly at the floor, sitting on the small bed.  Red didn't seem to mind sleeping on the ground.  To be blunt, Barret was dead to the world.  His mission was a failure; his life was over.  Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, who had died for the Planet, would not be avenged.  He'd gotten Tifa, a friendly girl he'd met one day in a Wall Market pub, into a lot of trouble, and her friend Cloud was probably kicking himself for joining up with AVALANCHE.  It was funny.  At the start, Barret had hated Cloud.  The blonde kid had shown up on Tifa's urging, his sapphire armor shining, his great sword strapped to his back, and no emotion on his face.  He hadn't said a word to any of them, taking a seat next to Biggs and listening intently to the mission orders and objectives.  Whenever someone tried to make conversation with him, he'd just glanced up, and nothing more.  In short, he was a cocky son of a bitch, and Barret hated those people.  Cloud had cared nothing for the Planet, he'd only cared to fill his own pocket with gold, just like the Shinra.

            _Just like the Shinra…_  Barret let out a sigh.  Cloud was not like the Shinra.  In fact, Cloud seemed to despise his former employers, but Barret had no idea why.  It was in his eyes every time he saw President Shinra, a curious look of hatred that anyone else might have taken as just a stare, but Barret had seen it.  Cloud did not hate President Shinra for the same reasons Barret did.  The Shin-Ra molesting of the Planet did not bother Cloud as much as something else did, and that something made him want to obliterate the Shinra more than Barret ever had.  _He's had a hellish past…_ Barret realized.

            "Grandpa…"  Red's voice startled Barret, and the big man turned to look at the creature, who had been lost in thought all this time.  Red was flinching as though embarrassed at letting the words escape his lips.

            "Grandpa?" Barret rolled the word on his tongue and started laughing.

            "What's so funny…?" Red asked, no longer embarrassed.

            "Oh, oh it's nothing!" Barret shook his head, though still snickered a bit.  "It's just…well, that ranked pretty high on the list of words I never 'spected to hear at this point in time."

            "Hmm…" Red purred curiously, as if summing Barret up.  "I was just thinking about him.  That's all."

            "S'ok with me, pal.  Where is he now?"

            "Living," Red replied quietly, and tried to drop the subject.  He didn't quite trust these people yet, though he certainly wanted too.  To Red's annoyance, however, Barret wasn't so eager to shut up.

            "Ya know," Barret said after a few minutes of silence, "That was an attempt at making conversation.  I don't know about you, but the rest of us people aren't too fond of the sound of silence."

            Red sighed, and then tilted his head towards Barret, blowing the fiery, billowing hair of his mane out of his eyes.  "He lives in an ecological preserve on the other continent.  The place is called Cosmo Canyon."

            "Cosmo Canyon?" Barret smiled slightly, "Oh, yes…I've heard of Cosmo Canyon."

            "I thought you might," Red nodded, "It's where AVALANCHE was born…"

            "How'd ya wind up so far away from each other?"

            Red smiled sadly.  "I'm one of few remaining members of my race.  We have incredible longevity, which is why they wanted to mate me with Aeris.  A filthy idea, I think.  They brought me here as a test subject for some odd virus, but it didn't seem to have much effect on me."  He flicked his tail, and for the first time Barret noticed that the fur on the end was so bright in color that it seemed to be…burning?  "Except this."

            "Wow…" Barret breathed, "You got yourself a fire whip."

            "Bah, a small compensation!"  Red breathed deeply, angry with himself for dredging up so much of his past for this stranger, and angry with the stranger for making him do so.  But he calmed down quickly, and decided to try and shift the discussion from himself.  "What about you?  Family, friends…life?"

            "Hrm.  Got a daughter named Marlene.  She's about 9, I guess.  Everyone else is dead and gone."  Even as he said it, anger boiled within him.  He must have shown it somehow, because Red raised an eyebrow and spoke the cursed name.  
            "Shinra?"

            Barret nodded, but would say no more.  The memories were coming back, those killing memories of sorrow and pain…all caused by the Shinra bastards.

            "It's getting late."  Red was a bit ashamed of awakening these feelings with AVALANCHE's commander.  It was probably best to just go to sleep.

            "Yeah," Barret nodded again and leaned back against the wall.  His last sleep?  Would he die the next day? 

            _Hell.  Whatever happens happens.  I tried, and that should count for something, somewhere._

_Do you remember?_

What?  Remember what?

_Him.  The one winged angel of death…?_

How…could I forget?

_It is time._

Time?  For what?

**_Time has come._**

What?!  Who are you?

**_Me?  Who are YOU?_**

I'm Cloud!

**_Cloud…?_**

Yes!  Who speaks?  
**_I know no Cloud…_**

Then why do you speak to me?

**_The time has come._**

For what?  Answer me!

**_The time is now!_**

What the HELL?  
_Get up!  See for yourself!_

Who ARE you people?

            Cloud's eyes flew open, the words of the unknown demons still ringing in his ears.  What was going on?  He looked around.  Something had to be up.  He'd been told to rise and see…see what?

            There it was.  Cloud bristled.  The door to his cell was wide open.

            "_Tifa!_" he hissed sharply, shaking her awake.

            "Wha…what?  What?" she asked, confused and groggy.

            "Look!" Cloud pointed to the door, "And keep your voice down!"

            "Migod…" she breathed, getting up and off the bed.  She peeked her head slowly out the door and to the left.  "Oh…Cloud!  Look at that!"

            Cloud did so.  The guard who had been watching over their cells was lying in the corner, weapon at his side.  In his chest, there was a bloody hole that went straight through him.

            "I'll get the keys!" Tifa declared, running for the guard's body.  Cloud followed, looking curiously at the dead man and his fatal wound.

            "No bullets did this," Cloud said grimly, "This man was impaled, and by something fairly large."

            Tifa turned her head down the hall, where the doors to the prison area had also been swung wide open.  She looked to floor and shivered.  "Look."

            Cloud beheld a trail of blood leading around the corner.  "Sweet Lord…"  He looked back to Tifa.  "Open Aeris's cell!"

            Tifa nodded and inserted the key.  To Cloud's relief, the flower girl was still sleeping peacefully, totally unharmed.

            "Here," he took the keys, "I'll wake Barret and Red.  I don't know what happened, but…"

            "This is our chance to escape," Tifa finished for him, then went to wake Aeris.

            Cloud darted down the hall and opened the door.  Red sprang to his feet at the sudden intrusion, spinning towards the door and growling, but stopped when he saw Cloud.

            "Wild thing, eh?" Cloud said without emotion.

            "Just a light sleeper," the beast responded.

            "Barret!" Cloud barked in his ear, "Wake up!"

            "Huh?" Barret flailed a bit before he focused on Cloud.  "The hell!  How'd you get in here?"  
            "Take a look outside…" Cloud answered.  Barret shakily to his feet and walked out of the cell.  

            "Whoa…" he gasped, "What happened?"

            "I don't know," Cloud answered, "But there's a trail of blood leading out of here."

            "Hrm," Barret pondered, casting a look at a battle hungry Red, "Les' follow it!"  They ran to the end of the hall.  "Yo!  I think they cancel off all elevators at night, but Pappy Shinra probably has his own personal elevator working.  We'll head up there and clear away everything ugly.  Bring up the rear!"  
            "I hear ya," Cloud nodded.  Barret and Red took off as Tifa and Aeris exited her cell.  

            "Cloud?" Aeris frowned, "Where are they going?"

            "We're all going," Cloud answered, "Up to the top."

            They had no Materia with them, but they had their weapons.  Cloud removed them from the cell he'd watched the dead guard store them in.  After everyone was armed and ready, Cloud, Aeris, and Tifa started following the bloody road.  Cloud cast nervous glances all about him.  He never saw any signs of a threat, or if he did, they were full of Barret's bullets.  What else he saw was troubling.

            Dead bodies were everywhere.  Anyone who had been working on computers or desks or whatever they did to make a living now had their guts splattered around the room they'd been killed in.  Each and every one had what Cloud identified as sword wounds.  He ought to know, he thought, thinking of his own giant sword.

            "Y…YOU!" a wild voice boomed.  The three escapees spun to the right.  Before them were two fair sized men, each outfitted in shining blue armor with silver epaulets, while carrying long lance swords.

            "Did you do this?" one growled, sword ready.

            "SOLDIERS…" Cloud hissed quietly.

            "Oh no…" Tifa felt sick.

            "They…they're 3rd Class," Cloud realized, "We can beat them!"

            "AVALANCHE!" the other one screamed, "I don't care if you did this or not!  I'm gonna kill you just for FUN!"  He charged, lance held outward to impale Cloud, who stepped aside and swept his enemy's legs out from under him.  The SOLDIER grumbled a curse and tried to get to his feet, but Cloud stomped down on his face, turning the lights out.

            "Argh!" Tifa groaned, dodging her furious attacker.  The other SOLDIER was hacking away mercilessly, and it was very hard for Tifa to dodge, much less get an attack in.  The SOLDIER suddenly changed tactics, lowering his sword but just as quickly lancing a punch into Tifa's ribcage, flooring her.  Cloud's sword was upon him before he could attack again.

            The SOLDIER cursed and raised his sword to defend against a second blow.  He stepped back, trying to put some distance between Cloud and himself, but wound up backing into Aeris's staff, which lanced forward into his back.  The SOLDIER fell forward, and the broad end of Cloud's sword connected with his head.  He fell to the ground like a sack of rocks.

            "That was it?" Aeris frowned, "That was the SOLDIER threat?"

            "Hey," Cloud smirked, "I was 1st Class, darlin'.  And _they _aren't people you mock.  Ever.  I watched a poor street kid do that once…wasn't pretty."

            "Yeah, well," Tifa had pulled herself together, "Who cares as long as these two sucked.  Let's get moving!"

            Minutes later, the crowd found themselves on the floor below Hojo's lab.  Cloud felt a feeling of unease as the bloody trail led them towards the silver Jenova tank.  Seconds later, he knew why.

            "That's bad…right?" Tifa asked, motioning to what remained of the tank.  It was twisted and bent, as if something had exploded into it.  Or out of it.  Whatever had plowed through here had either stolen the beast within the tank, or provoked it to escape.  Either way, Cloud looked like a man about to be shot.

            "No, please!" Hojo's guard pleaded, hands high, "Don't shoot me!"  
            "One good reason, you sack o' shit!" Barret snapped, "_One good reason!"_

            "I can give you one!"  He patted his pocket.  "In here!  There's the keycard to the next floor!  Would I be doing this if I was the enemy?"

            Red pawed the pocket, checking it for a weapon.  "Get it and give it to him."

            The guard obeyed, handing the keycard to Barret.

            "Good," the big man pocketed the card, "Now git!  Before the big bad wolf of whatever did this gets ya!"

            "Yes!" the guard nodded and took off.

            "Mercy, Barret?" came Cloud's questioning voice.

            "C'mere, pokey head!"  Barret took out a bag and dumped the contents onto the ground.  "Here's our Materia!  I got it from Hojo's big sanctuary up there!"

            "I suggest we equip it," said Red, "God knows what is waiting for us up there.  I'm fine with my Fire, All, and Sense, Barret."

            Barret nodded and threw the Materia Red's way.

            "Bolt and All, please."  Barret handed Tifa hers.

            "Uh," Aeris thought, "I guess the Ice is good."

            "Give her the Elemental, too," Cloud said, "And give me Poison and Restore."

            "Gotcha," Barret carried out orders, "And that leaves me with Fire and All, jes' like the cat."

            The next floor wasn't much of a floor.  It was for President Shinra's secretaries, most of which lay sprawled out in a pool of their own blood now.  Two massive staircases led up, as did the trail of blood.  AVALANCHE proceeded solemnly and carefully up the stairs, each wondering what they would find.

            What came next was a mixture of emotions, such as shock, disbelief, disgust, fear…and satisfaction.  Behind the massive silver desk, President Shinra was sitting in his chair, though face down on some papers he'd been working on.  Still sitting in a bloody hole in his back was a very long, very sharp sword, resembling one a master Samurai might use.

            "He's dead…" Barret whispered, breaking the long silence, "He's dead!  My god, he's dead!  The President of Shinra Inc. is _dead!_"  It sunk in the last time.

            "Haa…ha!" Tifa laughed softly, a faint happiness starting to emerge, "It's over!  Without President Shinra, the other executives will eventually self destruct!"

            "Shin-Ra is finished!" exclaimed a very happy Red XIII.

            Cloud had not said a word.  Instead, he had been moving slowly back and around the desk, walking towards the President, eyes pasted to the sword.

            "Cloud?" Aeris asked, "Are you…okay?"

            "This sword…" he said quietly.

            "What?  Speak up, man!" Barret snapped.

            "This sword!" Cloud said, louder, "It's the Masamune long sword!"

            "Whoop de shit," Barret replied, "To me it's the sword in the stone now, and I for one am _not _pulling it out!"

            "No, you don't understand!" Cloud insisted, "Only Sephiroth could use this sword!  It's too heavy for anyone else!"

            "Hey," Tifa tilted her head, "That must mean Sephiroth did all this!"

            "Yeah!" Barret said, happily, "The champion SOLDIER killed his boss and all his associates!"

            "But I thought Sephiroth was dead…" Red said, slowly.

            "So sayeth the news," Barret grumbled, "But the facts are right here!"

            "So, does that mean he's a good guy?" Aeris asked.

            "Must be," Tifa nodded, "Maybe he wants to save this planet, too?"

            "Save the planet…" Cloud repeated in bewilderment, "A good guy?!  No!" 

            "Huh?" they all asked, peering curiously at Cloud.

            "That's not Sephiroth!" Cloud answered, shaking his head furiously, "That's not his mission!  It's…oh, god…"  This meant so many things, and all of them were bad.

            "Shh!" Aeris commanded, "I hear something!"

            "Hey, me too!" Barret turned his attention to a pillar near Shinra's desk, "Sounds like a pig."

            Promptly, short, stout Palmer squeaked in alarm and tried to run past AVALANCHE.  Barret easily caught him by the collar and hoisted him up.  This took quite a bit of energy, but the big man would never admit that.

            "Heya, fatty!" Barret grinned, "I've been saying this phrase a lot today, and hey, what the hell, one more time!  Gimme one reason why I shouldn't kill ya!"

            "Uh," Palmer began to sweat, "Um…"

            "Wait, Barret!" Cloud ran back around the desk to his comrades, "Palmer, did you see what happened?"

            "Yeah!" Palmer nodded his head enthusiastically, "Sephiroth was here!"

            "But he's dead," Red challenged.

            "No!" Palmer squealed, looking very frightened now, "I saw him!  I swear it!"

            "Your word against your own newspapers, pal!" Barret said with an apologetic frown, raising his gun arm.

            "NO!" Palmer wailed, "Would I really lie to you now?!"

            "Good point," Tifa nodded, "Continue."

            "Wha…?" Palmer frowned.  "I saw him kill the President.  I heard his voice, too!  He was saying something about not letting Shin-Ra get to the Promised Land!"

            "See?" Barret looked at Cloud, "A good guy!"  
            "Barret!" Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Sephiroth is probably more dangerous to this Planet than all of Shinra combined!  You must believe that much!  He is the real crisis for the Planet!"

            Barret was quiet for a while. Then, he looked to Palmer and dropped him to the ground.  "Scram."

            On cue, the whirring of a helicopter was heard.  AVALANCHE and Palmer looked up at the skies.  A big smile lit up the fat man's face and he ran off towards the spot where the helicopter was descending.

            "Oh, thank god you came!" he called out, "Mister President!  Hey!  Over here!"

            "Mister President…?" Tifa frowned.  Suddenly, the look on Barret's face turned very sour.

            "Awww HELL!" he thundered.

            "What?" Aeris asked, worried.  Red, too, looked cautiously around.

            "Vice President Rufus…" Barret was slightly deflated, "I forgot about him…"

            "Rufus?" Red's ears twitched.  Indeed, the name was sounding familiar to all present now.  

            "He's the President's son," Tifa stated.

            "Who mated with President Shinra?" Red wrinkled his nose in disgust.  In another setting, that might have been gloriously hilarious.  

            "I heard he was away on assignment," Barret said.

            "I heard no one's ever seen him laugh or cry," said Aeris.

            "Or bleed," added Cloud.

            "Les' fix that!" Barret smiled evilly.

            "Yeah," Cloud started after Palmer, "He's what'll hold Shinra together.  We take him out now and save ourselves a lot more trouble."

            "Finally," Barret said to himself, "AVALANCHE's mission fulfilled!"

            Rufus Shinra was young, and that was probably the most obvious thing about him.  He wasn't notably tall or short, but he was thin and fit.  His face was sculpted rather well, and his hair was blonde like his father's, though Rufus's had an orange tint.  He wore a suit and pants made out of a shade of white so bright that it gleamed.  All in all, he was very handsome, yet probably very cold.

            He was now frowning uncertainly at the crowd that had gathered before him.  He spoke finally, and his voice was a deep, commanding baritone.

            "So.  Palmer here tells me you're not the friendliest group of people ever to hit the planet.  But that's just him."  He glanced at their faces, and detected more curiosity than anything.  So he fed the emotion.  "I am Rufus Shinra, President of the Shinra Company."

            "You only Prez cuz yer old man died," Barret stated.

            "Hrm," Rufus looked hard at Barret.  "Yep.  You're right."  Barret hadn't expected that answer, and it showed.  "Well.  Who all are you, anyway?"

            Cloud answered first.  "I'm Cloud.  Ex-SOLDIER, 1st Class."

            "I'm Tifa, and I'm with the AVALANCHE gang."

            "Name's Barret, and I'm the _leader _of the AVALANCHE gang!"  
            Aeris went next, and she spoke in a monotone.  "Aeris, a flower girl from the slums."

"Red XIII, a research specimen."

            Rufus smirked.  "What a crew.  Well, since you're here, would you care to hear my inauguration speech?"

            "Inauguration!  Ha!" Barret laughed, "But go on, Great One."

            Rufus paid no attention to Barret.  "My father ran things effectively, if not a bit foolishly.  He believed that the people were important, and needed to be manipulated if anyone in Shin-Ra was to succeed.  He made it all seem picture perfect."  As he spoke, he walked slowly from person to person, and the air got cold around anyone whenever Rufus stepped closer.  "Get a job in Shinra, accept whatever comes your way, and if a terrorist attacks, Shinra will protect you!  It was all so perfect on the outside."  He stopped, looking them all over again.  "I run things differently.  It takes too much time, effort, and money to do what my father did.  I'll rule ruthlessly.  The people won't do anything because they won't dare.  It's simple, really.  I don't know why no one else thought of it."

            "He likes to give speeches, just like his father," Tifa observed.

            Cloud was quiet.  Whatever Rufus had said may or may not have been true, but it didn't matter.  The speech was just an excuse for Rufus to examine possible enemies, and he'd by now summed them all up.  No doubt he was armed, and he knew how to use his weapon.  Just by observation, Cloud knew the new President Shinra had fought and killed before, and was not afraid to do either again.  That made escape all the more vital, he realized.

            "All of you!" Cloud did not turn around, but AVALANCHE knew he was speaking to them.  "Get out of here!  Get to the bottom floor!  Keep Aeris safe!"

            "Heh heh," Rufus laughed quietly, looking at Aeris, "You don't have to fear me, Ancient.  And you, SOLDIER, stop being so paranoid.  The Ancients don't mean half as much to me as they did to my father."

            Aeris blinked, swallowing the information questioningly, hoping he was telling the truth.

            "Come on!" Tifa ordered, "Let's go!  There's a working elevator a floor down!"

            "Yo!" Barret protested, shaking his fist at Rufus, "What about him?"

            "I'll take care of it," Cloud snapped, "Now go!"

            Rufus didn't seem to care as the team disappeared down the stairs.  He eyed Cloud curiously, Palmer still sweating beside him.  For a long time, they just stared.

            Barret, Tifa, Aeris, and Red moved swiftly down the staircase and to the elevator.

            "Tifa?" Aeris asked her when she began to hesitate, "Something wrong?"

            "I…uh," she shook her head, "You guys go on!  Someone should wait for Cloud, just in case."

            "All right," Red nodded, "We'll wait for you all at the entrance.  Good luck."

            "Likewise," Tifa waved.

            The elevator doors closed.  Aeris hit the G button for the ground floor.

            Shinra Inc.'s elevators were located in pairs of two, and one could see the other one because they were glass elevators, but not the insides because the glass was darkened.  Barret noticed it first.  The other elevator was coming right down, and it was coming down fast.  Soon, they were side by side, and no one was speeding up.  Something was…fishy.

            "People…" he said slowly, then his senses exploded with warning.  "Get DOWN!"  

            They floored themselves just in time.  A loud storm of bullets flew screaming into the thick glass, shattering it instantly.  When the three looked up, they saw a large security vehicle in the adjoining car.  Two sets of machine guns lined each side of the attacker, and a large cannon resembling that of a tank was embedded in its head.

            "Unit 18, Hundred Gunner," Red said instantly, "The Turks' attack dog.  I picked that up while imprisoned."

            "I'll keep us healed," said Aeris.

            "Be careful, people…" Barret warned.  "You screw up for a half second and that thing will rip you apart!"  
            As if to punctuate, the Hundred Gunner spat another salvo at them.  The bullets zipped on past, shattering what remained of the glass.  

            "Don't fall off the elevator, either," warned Red.

            Barret dared to attack.  He got up and opened fire on the machine, but his bullets only slightly damaged the Hundred Gunner's armor.  It retaliated with a storm of gunfire in Barret's direction.  He ducked just in time.

            Red charged up a Fire spell and sent it at the Gunner.  The heat would eventually get to the machine's internals, overheating it.  But not yet.  Another salvo flew at the team, this time concentrated at Red, but the beast was fairly close to the ground as it was, making ducking easy.  

            "Get the guns on the sides!" Aeris realized, "Stop its attacks!"

            "Cover me!" Barret ordered.  Aeris and Red replied by sending Fire and Ice spells into the sets of guns on both sides of the Hundred Gunner, charring and stiffening it.  It sent is gunfire at the attackers, so Barret stood up without any trouble and started shooting at the right guns.  Sparks flew, but the guns did not fail.  After no more than three seconds, Barret threw himself back to the floor, avoiding the counterattack.  

            "Lay low!" he ordered, trying to angle his gun at the right side.  He started firing from the floor.  The first few shots missed, but Barret managed to line up his sights with the guns, letting a long stream of fire into it.  The Gunner didn't understand where the shots were coming from until it finally traced the stream of fire to three figures on the floor.  By then, however, it was a bit too late.  The right guns sparked and flared, then went inactive.  The left guns, however, were very active.

            "Move!" Red cried, rolling to the side.  Barret sprang to his feet, followed by Aeris, both dancing around to avoid holes in their feet.  Red used another Fire spell, distracting the Hundred Gunner's targeting systems long enough for Aeris to stiffen the left guns with an Ice spell.

            Barret repeated the long stream of gunfire on the slowed guns.  His bullets smacked into various vital points, destroying programs and functions.  The guns eventually were destroyed, but not before targeting Barret and firing.  The big man let out a grunt as the bullets connected, some ricocheting off the metal band around his waist, others hitting him in the chest.  He sunk to his knees.

            "Shit…" he choked out, in shock.  Aeris crouched next to him, examining the wounds.  The heart was fine, and she didn't think the shots were close to his lungs, but she still had to work quickly.

            "Don't worry," she coaxed, conjuring up a spell.  Energy surrounded her fists, but flickered and died.  "Damn…wait, I'll try again…"

            Red wasn't having fun.  The Hundred Gunner had chosen him as its primary target.  Bursts of energy from the Gunner's tank cannon collapsed into areas of the floor he'd been at seconds earlier, then he'd have to dodge again to miss another salvo.  He couldn't really stand still long enough to work up another Fire spell, his only means of attack at this range, and besides, he'd used enough spells that he was feeling weary.  Not a good thing.

            "A little help?" he winced, dodging another attack.  The shells from Hundred Gunner were very explosive.  Too many hits would disable the elevator.  "We have to hurry!"

            "Almost!" Aeris started her spell again.  She tuned out the sounds of battle and thought to herself.  Angry thoughts.  She thought of her fear and anger when the Shinra captured her, she thought of Hojo looking her over like some kind of lab rat, and she pictured Red XIII faking an attack that was designed to end in a breeding party.  That did it.  Whispering the words of the Ancients, she began to gather soothing energies around her hands.  She let them loose.  Barret groaned in discomfort and wonder as he felt the bullets inside him slowly shudder and disintegrate.  The wounds left by the hits began to heal.  Aeris rested against her staff, tired, her Healing Wind limit skill having saved the day again.

            Barret felt his own strength building up.

            "Down, boy!" he commanded an irritated Red, who grew more so when he heard that.  Barret's gun barrel began to glow, fiery energies forming into a ball around it.  Hundred Gunner lowered its cannon at the enemy elevator, and slowly began channeling its own energies to the barrel.  It targeted AVALANCHE and prepared to fire.

            It never made it.  Barret's blast flew through the air, slamming into the ball of energy around Hundred Gunner's tank barrel.  The two bodies reacted badly, creating a screaming fireball, consuming the machine's body.  Five seconds and a violent explosion later, the elevator car adjoining AVALANCHE's was no more, as was its rider.

            "Whoa," Red panted, smiling a bit, "That was…fun!"

            "F…fun?" Aeris asked incredulously.

            "I think you're something else that starts with F…" Barret muttered.

            Red just shook his head, still grinning.  "How much longer is this joyride?"

            "Almost there," Aeris answered.

            Red's grin slowly began to die.  He heard it before the others, as his hearing was much better than that of humans.  It sounded like a helicopter…

            "Hello!" he snapped to attention, looking up, "We've got more company!"

            "Aw, _hell_!" Barret swore, pointing his gun up, "What is it, Red?"

            Red squinted, making out the attacker clearly.  "It's a Heli-Gunner.  Cleverly named creature, I think.  The Turks use it for surveillance."

            "Tseng must really want us to stay," Barret said quietly.  Aeris said nothing, though a slightly guilty look crossed her face.

            "Let's answer him appropriately," Red said, mindful of Aeris's embarrassment.  She nodded.

            Not a second later, before any of them could act, a hail of large bullets slammed into the elevator car, each exploding when it hit.  The blasts were tiny, but too many were hitting.

            "It's gonna destroy the car!" Aeris cried, looking up and realizing the machine was out of range for her staff, and she couldn't really concentrate enough to cast a spell.

            "What do we do?" asked a suddenly frightened Red.

            "Ya all shut up and draw its fire!" Barret barked, "I'm almost out of ammo!  My attacks gotta count!"

            "Right," Red replied, using the last of his mental abilities to launch a final Fire spell up at the Heli-Gunner.  It was startled by the attack, and it took its systems a while to register it.  

            Aeris used the time to work up an Ice spell.  "Please work…" she said softly, and added a prayer before letting it fly.  Heli-Gunner didn't seem very affected by Ice, since it had few joints other than the spinning rotor atop its head.  Its torso had a right gun and a left gun, nothing else.  Still, it gave Barret time to line up good shot.

            "Hoo boy, gotta stay steady," he coached himself.  The message went from his brain to his arm, and the gun fired a string of six bullets, Barret's last.  They plowed through the center of the machine's torso, putting a big hole in it.  But Barret was cursing.

            "What's wrong?" Aeris asked, confused.

            "I was aimin' for the head!" he swore a few more times, "If I could have destroyed the propeller, then…"  
            He was cut off when a furious stream of explosive ammo destroyed most of the car's support.  It creaked loudly, sparks flying all around it.  And suddenly, they were descending much faster.  

            "NO!" Barret boomed.

            "Quick!" Red took charge, "Look down!  The doors are open to that floor!"

            "Hah!" Barret found humor in the situation, "Some asshole wants to use the elevator!"

            "Look!" Red kept going, "Heli-Gunner is zooming downwards to keep up with us!  Their CPUs aren't famed for quick maneuvering.  If we jump out there, maybe the Gunner will follow the car down and go to hell with it!"

            "Smart man!" Barret clapped him on the back, mindful now of the exploding ammo falling all around him, "Or whatever you are."

            "Heads up!" Aeris braced herself, "It's time!"

            All three leapt at the same time.  Their timing was a little off, though.  Red sailed through the open doors, but Barret and Aeris wound up grabbing the floor, trying to avoid falling.  Heli-Gunner whizzed right on past them as planned.

            "Oh, no…" Red ran and offered his tail to Aeris.  After a quick, painful procedure, they were both able to help Barret to his feet.  None to soon, either.  Their car hit the ground floor and exploded violently, taking the Heli-Gunner with it.  A column of fire rose up the elevator shaft, singing Barret's rear.

            "OW, damn!" he swore angrily.  All three moved away from the doors before collapsing in exhaustion.

            "What now?" asked Aeris.

            "Ground floor," Barret answered, "We wait for Cloud and Tifa there."  He looked upwards, a smile forming on his lips.  _Hey, Rufus!  Tseng!  IN YOUR FACES, FOO'S!_

            The air was cold and thin, more so than usual, Palmer noted.  Rufus and Cloud had been sizing each other up for what seemed like hours, and the stout man was getting tired of it.  Thankfully, though, he didn't have to wait long.

            "So," Rufus said, finally breaking the silence, "Why do you want to fight me?"

            "It's…hard to explain," Cloud answered.

            "How so?" Rufus frowned, "I think it's a rather easy question."

            Cloud pursed his lips, thinking of how to answer.  "You seek the Promised Land."

            "Yes," Rufus nodded, "Yes, I do.  Only I don't plan on relying on some hapless Ancient to get there.  Or actually," he smiled, "I do."  He started pacing up to Cloud, and the mercenary started getting nervous.  If Rufus got too close, he could pull off a surprise attack at any time.  On the other hand, if Cloud tried to dodge, or make any kind of defensive move, it might provoke Rufus to attack, and Cloud wanted to give the others as much time as possible to escape.  

            "I won't let you hurt her," Cloud said simply.

            "Her?" Rufus shook his head, "No, no, your friend is fine.  I don't even have anything against her.  My business is tracking down a certain someone who is responsible for a certain something."  He motioned to the silver desk, far from their present position, where his father still sat in his throne.

            "You know," Cloud said hoarsely, "Sephiroth…"

            "Hmm…" Rufus started pacing again, sapphire eyes looking hard at Cloud.  "Did you know that Sephiroth is an Ancient?"

            Cloud stifled a hiss.  Yes, he knew.  He knew more than this little prick would ever guess.  "A lot has happened."  His tone was no longer conversational.  Instead, it was ice cold and threatening.  Rufus was the Shin-Ra.  Cloud would kill him, and with him Shin-Ra would die.  That infernal company would finally see justice.  He continued, Rufus noting his malice.  "Anyway, I can't let either you or Sephiroth have the Promised Land."

            Rufus looked at him with a little frown and sighed.  "I see."  The wind tousled his wispy hair, blowing it across his eyes.  The perfect touch.  When he spoke again, his tone was every bit as ominous as Cloud's.  "I guess this means we won't become friends."

            That was Cloud's only warning, and it wasn't enough.  For the attack did not come from Rufus, but from Cloud's side.  A black beast was suddenly slashing into him, biting furiously at his hands.  With a startled cry, Cloud fell over, mindful of Rufus's mocking laughter.

            "No wonder you're an _ex_-SOLDIER!  Dark Nation, old boy, finish him for Daddy, would you?"

            _How sweet,_ Cloud growled mentally and used all of his strength to shove Dark Nation off.  He got to his feet, but before he could draw his sword, the wolfish creature attacked again.  Its claws fell across his face, tearing the flesh in three spots.  Cloud cried out, staggering back, and Dark Nation took the opportunity to launch itself into Cloud's gut, toppling the mercenary to the ground.  The beast itself rolled back away from Cloud, using the man as a springboard.  It landed on its feet, growling sadistically and planning another charge.

            Cloud thought about sickness and pain, hoping that this new Materia would do him some good.  He needed to buy himself some time.  Dark Nation charged, baring its vicious teeth.  Cloud met it head on with a Poison spell, startling the creature.  It coughed throatily, and a beast coughing throatily is not a fun sound.  Both Cloud and Rufus flinched, but Cloud took the opportunity to jump to his feet.  He ran towards Dark Nation, bringing his left foot out higher than he did for a normal step and planted it under the beast's chin, snapping its head up and back, and sending the whole creature recoiling through the air.  It landed in a stunned heap, but slowly came to.

            "Impressive, Cloud," Rufus clapped his hands dramatically.  

            "Strife," he added acidly, "My name is Cloud Strife."

            "First name, last name, it really doesn't matter to me."  Rufus smiled darkly as a flash of white light appeared in front of him, forming into a wall of energies.  Cloud glanced at Dark Nation, who was just finishing with his Barrier spell.  "Either way," Rufus finished, "You're dead."

            Cloud had a warning this time; the Barrier spell.  Rufus wouldn't have had Dark Nation use it on him if he wasn't planning on fighting himself.  He reached for his sword just in time.  Rufus reached into his alabaster suit coat, pulling out a long, double-barreled shotgun, bringing it up and firing at Cloud in one smooth motion.  The shell slammed into the broadside of Cloud's sword, which he had just moved in front of him.  A hair of a second sooner, and Rufus would have been victorious.

            "Very impressive," Rufus growled through clenched teeth.  "Go around him!"  Dark Nation roared in reply and ran in a circular motion around Cloud.  Gut wrenching realization hit Cloud.  Dark Nation would attack his back, tearing through him unless he spun around to handle the beast, but if he did that Rufus would shoot him.  Either way, he was doomed.

            "Clever bastard," Cloud muttered, keeping his eye on the beast, which was currently the more threatening of the two villains.  He let Dark Nation come from behind, and then rolled to one side, hoping Rufus would fire into his dog accidentally.  He didn't.

            "Really," he smirked, "You expected me to fall for _that?_" Even as he said it, he was raising his shotgun and pulling the trigger.  All Cloud heard was the explosion, and suddenly he was in a world of pain.  The shell had ripped apart the armor on his chest, and his Bangle was spent with that one blow.  Without it, he realized, he would be dead now.  He may be dead soon enough anyway, he realized glumly, feeling where the pellets had entered his body.

            _Just a little longer, _he coached himself, _Hang in there just a little bit longer!  You can die then if you want, but hold on at least until you kill him!  Kill the Shinra!  Don't give up now!_

Dark Nation was moving.  It raced towards Cloud, frothing and snarling.  It was pissed.  Cloud started climbing to his feet, but realized with horror that the animal would be upon him before he could take any action.  He braced himself, waiting for the blow.

            It never came.  Cloud heard Dark Nation's throaty cough once more, and looked at it with wide eyes, as did Rufus.  The poison was really hurting it.  Its black fur even looked like it was taking on an interesting shade of green.  It was stalled.

            Cloud's eyes went from wide to wild.  He pulled his sword back around his side, gripping the handle with both hands.  He didn't know how he did it, or where the idea had even come from, but he suddenly knew that he _could _do it.  He swung the sword swiftly forward, arcing it around like a baseball bat.  Out of the tip sprang a mass of blue energies that mowed into a stunned Dark Nation.  Fur and flesh were burnt, bones were crushed, vital organs obliterated.  Dark Nation gave a horrifying death cry and collapsed into a bloody heap, the Blade Beam having totally annihilated it.

            Satisfaction bloomed within Cloud.  He had turned all his anger and frustration into a new Limit Break, a fascinating attack that simply implanted itself in the fighter's brain, letting them know how to use it without even training, and they appeared at the oddest times.  So far, Cloud had vanquished Guard Scorpion with a powerful bash he called Braver, eviscerated Aps with a Cross Slash, and now…this.

            He became aware that something was happening.  Dark Nation's body was glowing with the blue light that had killed it.  Cloud realized that only seconds had passed, and Rufus was still looking in shock at his dead pet.  He snapped to attention, however, when out of Dark Nation's corpse sprang the remaining energy from the attack.  It collided with Rufus, knocking him to his knees.  It pulsated through the man, and he gritted his teeth in pain.  When he raised his head to look at Cloud, his face was a mask of rage.

            But he had little time to do anything.  The ex-SOLDIER was staring at Rufus like he was Satan himself.  With an angry cry, Cloud began to rush at him, Buster Sword hanging limply at his side, broad side facing Rufus.  Before the Shinra's new president knew what was happening, Cloud had brought up the weapon with all his force into Rufus's lower chest, and the shockwave traveled up his body.  He arced backward through the air, eventually flipping completely over and landing face down on the floor.  Were it not for Dark Nation's Barrier, which had decreased the power of Cloud's swing, all of Rufus's ribs would be broken.

            Cloud just stood there, paralyzed by thousands of different emotions.  Rufus Shinra cursed softly and weakly, using his shotgun as a crutch as he got shakily to his feet.  The familiar sound of a helicopter filled the arena, and soon enough, one was descending into the battlefield.  Both fighters realized that they had lost track of Palmer through the battle.  The Head of the Air and Space Department was now throwing down a rope towards Rufus, yelling for him to take hold.

            For a few seconds, both stared at each other.  Cloud's gaze was full of spite and disgust, whereas Rufus looked on with both anger and interest.  Finally, the latter brushed a few locks of hair from his perspiring face and smiled grimly.

            "Heh heh…that's quite enough for today."  His voice was weaker, and somewhat breathless, as such was the state of his lungs.  It was satisfying to Cloud.  He took hold of Palmer's rope and smirked a farewell to Cloud.

            He finally snapped out of his trance, gazing in horror at the retreating helicopter.  He was getting away!  Shinra's demise was evading him!  Damn, why hadn't he done anything?  Cloud raised his sword and leapt up at Rufus, slashing furiously.  Rufus barely avoided having his feet chopped off, and with a curse he fired his shotgun down, his final attack.  Cloud was still moving through the air when the shot went off.  He landed not a half second after the shell did, a few inches away from him.  A chill went down his spine as he realized how close to death's scythe he's been.

            "No…" he whispered, watching President Rufus climb the rope into the chopper.  "No!"  Using all the power in his vocal chords, he bellowed up at the fleeing enemy.  "_BASTARD!  COWARD! COME BACK DOWN HERE!  FIGHT ME!  **COWARD**!!!"_

            Cloud's words died in the air, never reaching the President, though he couldn't know that.  The chopper disappeared into the night, taking the President somewhere safe.  Cloud wanted to shriek in fury, wanted to kill many things at once, but no noise came out of his mouth and he took no action.  He just panted, feeling one of the most important opportunities of his life slip away.

            Finally, he began to feel pain again.  His attention turned to his wounds.  His face stung horribly from Dark Nation's claws, and his chest was beginning to ache.  He took hold of the Restore Materia and worked up a healing spell.  The pellets inside him dissipated, and the small holes in his chest were cleansed.  The Cure spell was a great help, but he would still need a bit of medical attention later on.  His face was still hurting, but the bleeding had stopped and he was no longer at risk of infection.

            The air around him suddenly grew very, very cold.  Many chills went down his spine.  Was the quiet getting to him?  Or was it the fact that he was very much alone on the top floor of Shinra's Headquarters Building?  A slight breeze moved past him.  Funny, there wasn't wind tonight…even out here.  It was quick and passive, almost as if someone had just moved swiftly by him.  

            The thought was chilling, as was what followed.  Almost without control over his own body, Cloud mechanically turned and walked towards the massive silver desk where the late President Shinra was seated.  At first, he didn't notice it, but soon, every part of him, every sense in his body, became focused on one detail of the scene.

            Sephiroth's Masamune long sword was gone.

            Cloud stared, chilled to the bone.  A hundred possible explanations filled his head, but only one stood out, only one could possibly be real in Cloud's mind.  He remembered his own words, which now haunted him with all the ferocity of an angry spirit.

            _Only Sephiroth could use that sword…to heavy for anyone else._

            All the emotions he'd felt that night suddenly exploded into sheer terror.  He turned and broke into a mad run for the stairs.  He never once looked back.


	10. Midnight Ride

X-Midnight Ride 

            Tifa was almost afraid of Cloud when she saw him.  He'd seen a ghost, or at least, she would bet on it.

            "Cloud!  Where's Rufus?"

            "I couldn't finish him," Cloud shook his head in a mixture of anger and disgust.  "Do these elevators work?"

            "They both sorta exploded on the way down," she replied slowly.

            Cloud paled.  "The others…?"

            "They were in there…" Tifa nodded, "But, I dunno, maybe they made it out?"

            "Come on," Cloud started for the stairs.  There may be working elevators in Hojo's laboratory, and it was worth a shot.

            "Heads up!" a youngish voice called out, "The terrorists!"  
            "Another SOLDIER!" Cloud growled, "Hurry!  That elevator is active!"  Cloud took off, but a large, thick bolt of lightning assaulted Tifa.  It slammed into the ground before her, tearing the floor apart and rattling her with electricity.

            "Wait!" she called weakly, crumbling to her feet.

            "Got her!" the SOLDIER cheered, motioning for two Moth Slashers to move in on the prey.  Cloud dashed back towards Tifa, scooping her up just as the Slashers breezed past.  Duped but not done, they turned around for another pass.  Cloud beat them to the elevator, slamming the "Door Close" button.  The doors closed right on the chasing SOLDIER's foot.  His screams stopped when the Moth Slasher robots crashed into him from behind.

            A flash of green light lit up Tifa's body, and soon she felt the effects of the electricity going away.

            "What _was_ that?" she asked, pulling herself to her feet.

            "An improved Bolt spell," Cloud answered, "Bolt2 I think."

            "Bolt2?"

            "Yeah.  His Materia must have grown in ability."

            "Can we do that, too?"

            "Eventually."

            Tifa frowned.  "Bolt2.  The name kinda sucks.  Is there a Bolt3?"  She was joking.

            Cloud grinned.  "Yep."  She blinked in response, imagining the power of such a spell.

            They wound up on the second floor, near the Shinra's motor display.  Several motorcycles were lined up next to each other behind a massive window leading directly out to the highway.  President Shinra had thought it would draw more attention that way.

            "Cloud!" Tifa ran back towards him excitedly, "They're there!  I checked!  They made it!"

            "Good," he nodded.

            "What…?" she asked slowly, knowing the look on his face.

            "Get them outside to that truck," he motioned to a large blue vehicle in the parking lots outside, "There's an exit leading to the bottom of Midgar down the highway.  Get driving!  I'll meet you there!"

            "Okay," she replied, "Cloud?  Don't do something really stupid."

            "Never!"

            "Shit!" Barret cursed as he set another soldier on fire, "These guys are everywhere now!"

            "Rufus might have ordered a sweep of the building," Red pointed out.

            "Think that means Cloud blew it?" Barret asked solemnly.  No one answered.  Instead, they each picked an attacker and killed them.

            "Hey AVALANCHE!" a soldier called from a balcony above them. "Eat this!"  He chucked a grenade down, but Aeris's Ice spell would forever prevent him from seeing the results.  The results were significant, though.  All three were floored, gasping in pain.

            "We can't keep doing this!" said Red as he shook away the dots appearing in front of him.

            "I know!" Barret snapped, "Hurry yo' ass down here, Cloud!"

            "You guys…" Aeris said softly, but got their attention anyway, "You guys go ahead.  It's me they want.  Regardless of what Rufus said, they need an Ancient to get the Promised Land."  
            "Hey!" Barret took her firmly by the shoulders, though his gun-arm didn't provide for much of a grip, "You listen here!  You saved my daughter's life!  If you think for a minute that you're gonna get away _that _easily, you got another thing comin'!"

            She blinked.  "Thanks, Mister Barret…"

            "Hey!" he laughed, "None of that 'Mister' crap!  Jes' cuz I'm older than ya all!"  
            Red looked ready to comment, but didn't.  Instead, he turned his attention to an approaching figure.  "Hey!  Isn't that Tifa?"

            "Hey!" Barret roared at her, "Bout frickin' time!  Us people are runnin' around blowing up Shinra's tanks and choppers, and now all these frickin' guards, while you wait around for an engraved invitation?"

            "Didn't have your coffee this morning?" Tifa frowned.

            "No, I had too much!  Where's your buddy?"

            "He's got one of his ideas," Tifa started ushering them outside, "Look there!  See that truck?"

            "The blue piece of shit, yeah, I see it," Barret nodded.

            "Must you always be so cynical?  It grates on people's nerves."  Red wondered what kind of response that would invoke.

            "You a cold man," Barret smiled, amused, "Jes' like someone else around here, but I won't name names."

            "Let's go," Tifa climbed into the truck.

            "You want me to ride in that?" Barret mocked being appalled, "I can't be seen in something that…Shinra-ish!"  
            "Inventing your own adjectives now, are ya?" Aeris smiled, hopping in after Tifa.

            "Typical," Red and Barret said in unison as they hopped into the back, "Those women get the shelter."

            "And me with no bullets," Barret grinned.  Red gave him an uneasy look.

            "They're getting away, sir!" the MP whined over the radio, "They hijacked one of our trucks and are speeding down the highway!"

            "Well, I don't know, maybe you should _stop them_?" Tseng hissed back, "We carry plenty of mobile attack forces.  Dispatch your motor troops!  Cut the truck to ribbons!"

            "That may not be enough," the MP pointed out, wishing he were in Tseng's position inside the Shinra safe house, "They _have _come this far."

            "Fine," Tseng sighed, "I don't think it'll be hard getting Scarlet's permission to sic Motor Ball on them.  I'll report back to you in say, five minutes?  Make sure you don't turn the damn radio off, or I swear I'll leave you out to dry!"  He hung up, and the slam echoed throughout the room.

            "Having a bad day?" Rude asked softly.

            "Bad day, bad night, bad week, bad life, etcetera."  Tseng sat down, trying to relax.  "We're probably going to take the rap for letting them escape."

            "Letting?" Rude frowned, "We sent Hundred Gunner and Heli-Gunner after them."

            "And what do we have to show for it?"

            "Two busted elevators and a whole lot of scrap metal," Rude conceded.

            Tseng picked up the phone again, dialing a different safe house.  "Scarlet?  This is Tseng.  AVALANCHE is getting away."  He paused, moving his ear away from the receiver to avoid Scarlet's screeches of rage.  He smirked at Rude, mouthing the word "bitch".  When the yelling subsided, Tseng spoke again.  "I request permission to deploy your Motor Ball unit.  I think it has the best chance at cutting AVALANCHE off."  He waited a few minutes.  "Thank you," he replaced the receiver a lot calmer than the last time.  "It's a go."

            "I'll let the HQ know," Rude got up.  "Any word on the others?"

            "Scarlet, Heidegger and Reeve are all in the same safe house.  Palmer and President Rufus touched down in a small fortress hidden in the slums.  Hojo is there with them.  The President is hurt, but not badly.  That Cloud bastard again."

            "We'll give him a run for his money this time," Rude smiled evilly.

            Cloud tensed.  He was seated on a motorcycle he'd freed from the metal bonding it to the floor, and now looked on ahead as the truck with his friends disappeared down the highway.  What worried him was the swarm of Shinra motor units speeding after them, riding bikes similar to his own.  He would have to try and fend them off until reaching the exit, which was really an end in the road.  Once they dropped down to the lower levels of Midgar, they'd have quite some time to plan and move before anyone found them.  This was it, the final stretch.

            Cloud took a deep breath and revved the engine.  The bike shot forward, plowing through the glass like a bullet, and shattering it in the same manner.  Cloud had broken away from the display case, and now he was exposed to all enemies.  He made a break for the highway, whizzing past a cursing Shinra officer.  The enemy sped up, trying to match Cloud's pace, but the mercenary had picked a very good vehicle.  Once he was confident that he was getting the hang of things, Cloud brought out his sword.

            "SHIT!" Barret howled, pressing himself to the floor as bullets whizzed past his head.

            "They can't really aim," Red pointed out, motioning at the motorcyclists, who were struggling to maintain control of their bikes and fire shots at their enemies.

            "Well we can't really fight back!" Barret retorted, wishing he'd brought more magazines of ammo.

            "They're using swords!" they heard Aeris exclaim.  Indeed, more soldiers had sped up, and were now cutting into the truck with long blades.  Gashes appeared everywhere, narrowly missing Barret and Red in the back.  Tifa tried to concentrate on driving.  They had to get to the exit.  They couldn't lose now.  Her thoughts were interrupted as a blade appeared to her side, having pierced clear through the door.  Reality struck.  They _could _lose now, and not to the Shinra barons, but their common soldiers!

            "Tifa!" Barret snapped, "Speed up!  Move to one side!  Get them _off of us!_"  
            "I _can't!" _she cried.  The sword had linked the bike to the truck.  Tifa glanced out her window, and to her horror, she saw the man on the motorcycle fumbling to take out a gun.  All he'd have to do was point it at the window and fire, and AVALANCHE's mission would be over.

            "Oh no…" Red breathed as he, too, realized what the enemy was doing.  He heard the roar of another bike closing in on them.  So this was really it.  He tensed, waiting for the newcomer to attack.

            A large sword flew through the air, ramming clear through a soldier who'd been hacking at the car.  Red and Barret barely made out the shocked look on the man's face before he disappeared behind them, bike tipping over and scraping against the road.  Sparks flew everywhere.  The soldier attacking Tifa spat a curse and pointed his newly drawn weapon at his attacker.  The sword flashed through the air again, cutting into the man's side and slashing into his bike, which began to spark furiously.  Stunned, the man dropped his gun and began to lose his grip on the handles of his bike until he finally slid off it all together.

            "Cloud!" Barret was overjoyed, "Why do ya always have to be such a damn hero?"

            "You're welcome, Barret!" he replied, smiling slightly.  That did seem to be the case, he realized.  Then he saw that the sparking bike was still attached to the truck.  Swinging hard, Cloud sent the Buster Sword clear through the enemy weapon, dislodging the bike, which fell back and exploded violently, taking out two other pursuers with it.

            "Almost there!" Tifa announced.

            Almost was too long.  Cloud decreased his speed a bit.  There were two more bikes coming up from behind.  It was extremely difficult holding the heavy sword in one hand and steering the bike with the other, but Cloud was managing, for what other choice did he have?

            The two approaching attackers were armed with swords, and that was a relief.  They'd have to get in close to attack.  The bikers positioned themselves on Cloud's sides, holding out their swords towards him.  They then swerved in the mercenary's direction, trying to stab him with two weapons.  Cloud simply eased up on the gas and drifted behind them.  They realized they weren't going to make it in time to pull their weapons back before they impaled each other.  Cloud drove his bike to one and brought his sword to his side, preparing to swing out, when suddenly, the enemy did the unpredictable.  He threw his sword at Cloud.  The weapon collided with Cloud's, knocking it out of his hand.  Cursing, Cloud spun his bike around, looking for his sword.

            The huge weapon had hit the ground with the blade end up, and now seemed to be doing cartwheels.  The tip would hit the ground, and the momentum of the flight from Cloud's hand forced it over.  The handle would hit the ground, and the weight of the sword would flip it again, and so on.  Cloud steered his bike straight at it, pulling to the side a bit and reached out his hand.  He caught it as it was starting another spin, and he caught it by the blade end.  Cursing in pain, he absently removed his other hand from the handle in order to get the sword situated in his hand again.  When he completed that task, however, he realized that he was heading straight for a wall.  With a quick word of prayer, he swerved sharply towards the right, hoping he wasn't too late.

            What happened next was almost comical.  As Cloud moved to regain his sword, the biker who was still armed had turned his bike around and sped after Cloud, even as he was heading for the wall of the tunnel he was in.  When Cloud swerved, he missed the wall and drove in a circular motion until he was facing the right direction again.  When the biker swerved, he didn't quite make it.  He crashed, screaming in annoyance and fear, into the wall and disappeared in a cloud of flames.  

            Laughing despite himself, Cloud sped up and went to rejoin his friends.  

            The exit was in sight!  It was a simple end to the road, since it was not completed.  All they had to do was jump down there, and…

            He heard a roar from behind him.  The remaining biker had restarted his pursuit, and was now driving straight at him!  He swerved as if to turn, but instead kicked off his motorcycle, which went skidding across the pavement into Cloud's own!  Cloud threw himself off the bike just before they both exploded.  He landed poorly, hurting his shoulder and elbow.  When everything stopped spinning, he started making out familiar voices.

            "Cloud?  Are you okay?"

            "Yo, white boy's can't jump!  I give that leap a one-point-three!"  
            "How generous, Barret."

            "Aw, shush Tifa!  We're all here and we're all in one piece!"  
            Cloud pulled himself to his feet, somewhat disbelieving everything that he saw.  Aeris, Tifa, Red, and Barret were there, standing near what remained of their truck.  Barret was twirling rope he'd found in the truck, hinting at Cloud to start getting ready for the descent.  

            "Well.  We made it."  Cloud smiled slightly, looking over all his friends.

            "Yep," Aeris smiled back, and Tifa breathed a sigh of relief.  Barret tapped his foot impatiently until Cloud moved to help him with the rope.  Red just looked over them all, curious as ever.

            "Ya know," Barret said as they worked on tying the rope around a pole sticking out of the unfinished pavement, "When we all get someplace quiet, it would be nice if we could get some information 'bout this Sephiroth dude."

            "Yeah," Cloud nodded, mouth suddenly dry, "I think I owe you all that much."

            "First though," Barret tied a strong knot and wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.  "We all need a good night's sleep."

            "Day or night really matter?"

            "Nah."  They stood up, looking back at the others.  They were staring down the road, chattering quietly, but it was obvious that they were nervous.

            "Something's up," Cloud stated.  Barret nodded agreement and the two ran back to their comrades.

            "Yo, wassup?" Barret asked.

            "Listen," Aeris ordered, "Or, better yet, feel."  Cloud blinked, the words having no meaning to him until he actually did feel something.  The ground was shaking.  Slightly, but it was indeed shaking.

            "Something's coming," Tifa decided, and everyone added unspoken agreement.

            "Make sure your Materia is ready," Cloud took charge, "Barret, grab something to wield.  Whatever it is, we'll be ready for it."

            Yeah, right.  What appeared from the dark tunnel down the road was nothing short of monstrous.  A tank, it looked like.  A robot with a massive, tank-like base that sported armored treads.  Its torso and body resembled something humanoid.  Two arms adorned its sides, each with large pipes coming out of the shoulders.  On the head, two larger pipes spouted continual fire.  The massive machine sped at them with notable speed, stopping only when its CPU registered that it was close enough to the enemy.

            "Damn," Tifa commented dryly.

            "Red," Aeris whispered, "What is it?

            "Shinra Unit Motor Ball," Red Sensed, "Weak to electricity."

            "It's mine!" Tifa spat as she concentrated on a Bolt spell.  Soon enough, it blasted into Motor Ball, jolting it badly, but also prompting it to attack.  It positioned the pipes on its shoulders towards the fugitives and spouted trails of fire.  The fighters scattered in horror, none wanting to burn to death.  The flames continued.  Eventually, Barret and Red fired back some of their own heated spells, but it did little to Motor Ball except infuriate it further.

            Aeris used an Ice spell on one of the shoulders, stopping up the stream of fire for a bit, but the flames melted the ice soon enough.

            "Hey, Aeris!" called Cloud, "Do it again!  To both shoulders!  And keep doing it!  Lemme get close!"

            Aeris replied by firing two more spells at Motor Ball, slowing each stream of fire, and whenever she suspected that one was picking up its fire rate, she froze it again.  The amount of spells began to grow on her, though, and her endurance began to dwindle.  She finally just had to quit.  No problem, though.  Cloud took the opportunity to inch closer to the machine, sword at the ready.  He first considered slashing the treads, but he began to notice that the base of the torso that connected it to the base was considerably thinner, though every bit as armored.  He jumped back when electricity surged through Motor Ball again.  Two more Bolt spells hit, causing smoke to rise from various points of its body.  It positioned its flamethrowers at Tifa and only Tifa, angry and showing it.  Flames erupted towards the wide-eyed young woman, and she darted to the side, rolling towards Barret's hiding spot behind the truck.

            "All yours, Cloud!" she called.

            He climbed up the side of the base with no effort and stood right by the torso.  Cursing furiously at things usually helped improve his strength, so he did so now, slicing at the target like he was cutting down a sequoia tree.  Motor Ball shuddered, sparks flying from its lower torso.  But it reacted.  Groaning and creaking, it began to fold its torso down.  Cloud realized this just in time and jumped down, rejoining his hiding comrades.  

            Motor Ball's torso had folded neatly down so that the flaming pipes atop his head were now facing directly at AVALANCHE.  There was a groan of some internal engine, and a huge burst of fire came out of each pipe.  Surprised but not frozen, they ran from behind the truck, which disappeared into flames seconds later.  It didn't take long for Motor Ball to track down its enemies.  More random bursts of flames flew everywhere as AVALANCHE ran around like frightened rabbits, avoiding the fire at any cost.  

            This would not do, Red XIII realized.  Eventually, all of AVALANCHE would be cooked by Shinra's machine.  He bellowed orders, and his voice was no longer calm and even, but huge and booming.  "Get behind it!  It can't turn around very well in this area!"

            After kicking themselves for not thinking of it first, the others scooted around the machine one by one until they were behind it.  Barret and Cloud climbed aboard as before.  Barret bashed the pipes with his gun-arm and Cloud hacked at them with his sword.  Eventually, Motor Ball realized that its second strategy had gone down the toilet.  It started "standing up" much to its two rider's distaste.  They slid off unceremoniously, collapsing to the pavement.  

            Tifa went to work immediately, shooting it with three Bolt spells.  She cast them too fast, and fell to her knees in exhaustion.

            "Magic wears at your mind," Aeris reminded her, helping her to her feet, "Take it easy."

            "Yeah…" she nodded.  "Hey…look!"

            Motor Ball was turning around!  Slowly but surely, it was making all the movements back and forth, and was spinning to face the team.  There was no room to cross to the other side of the machine, lest they wish to be ripped apart by the treads.  So, Cloud took a gamble.  He hopped up onto the sides, climbing while the treads were moving.  It was very risky.  One false move and he'd be road kill.

            "For the love of…" Tifa sighed.  "Be _careful!_"

            Cloud soon became the least of their worries.  Motor Ball had turned.  Flames flew instantly at them, scattering AVALANCHE once again.  Red was the only one who dared to stay out in the open.  He darted back and forth with great agility, drawing Motor Ball's attention and fire.  Cloud had time to get to work.  Sparks flew each time the sword connected, and Motor Ball's armor was slowly fading away.  Still, the fire kept going, and eventually Red ran out of breath and had to retreat.

            Barret swore.  Here they were, right at the end of their dilemma.  President Shinra was dead, the Headquarters evacuated, and AVALANCHE was still alive and thriving.  For how long, though?  Would this final obstacle be the end?  No, no it would not.  Fiery energies gathered around Barret's gun again, and he poured his fury at the situation and his hate for the Shinra at the projectile he would send at their brainchild.  

            "Cloud!" he snapped, "Get off!"  Then, to answer his ally's questioning look, "This bastard's _mine_!"  

            The instant Cloud disembarked, Barret's shot flew through the air.  Motor Ball's shoulders flared, ready for another burst of flames, but the only flames that came were from its torso.  The shot ripped through most of the support, and the sheer weight of its upper body was too much for the remaining support to handle.  Motor Ball's torso caved in, and in a fury of flames the upper body crashed into the base.  The fight was over.

            They all rested quietly, breathing heavily and totally spent.  But they were all happy.  The battle was over, and they had survived it.

            Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Aeris, and Red XIII were seated on the dirty ground, but it didn't matter to them, for the dirty ground was far below the battlefield where Motor Ball still sat burning, a sign to the Shinra: They were no match.  Finally, someone had come to whom the Shinra was no match.  Well, not exactly.  In fact, they probably were the perfect matches for each other.  AVALANCHE just kept winning.  

            Everyone knew by now what had happened in the Shinra's Headquarters.  Barret, Aeris, and Red had related their battles with Hundred Gunner and Heli-Gunner, as well as the near death experience that followed.  Cloud told of his fight with Rufus and Dark Nation, but not of Sephiroth's missing sword.  He figured some things were better left unsaid.

            "So," Barret yawned.  "Prez Shinra is dead and his son was beaten.  That's sweet, real sweet!"

            "Yeah," Tifa grinned.  "It started with a few reactors.  Who'd have guessed it would wind up like this?"

            "Like this…" Red murmured.

            "Hrm?" asked Aeris.

            Red scanned their faces when he spoke.  "You realize that Midgar is no longer a safe place for us."

            "Yeah," Barret nodded slowly, "I guess."

            "Hadn't really thought about that…" Tifa agreed.

            "Well," Aeris frowned, "Then what do we do now?"

            Cloud stood up slowly, looking out into the horizon.  The sun almost blinded him, for he was so used to not seeing it.  "We have a new mission, if you'd care to come along."

            "The true crisis for the planet?" Barret smirked.

            "Yeah," Cloud smirked back, "Sephiroth is still alive.  That means there are things I have to do."

            "Like what?" asked Tifa.

            "Go after him, for one thing," he replied.

            "I'm going too!" Aeris piped up.

            "Sure?" Cloud frowned, "It's not going to be an easy journey…"

            "I _can _take care of myself," she huffed.  "Besides!  I kinda wanna learn a little more about the Ancients, if I can."

            "That might be a good idea," Barret nodded sarcastically, but smiled to soften it.  "Count me in, I guess.  I still wanna save the planet and stuff, so your enemy is my enemy."

            "Don't forget me," Tifa stood, "I've got nothing left for me here."

            Red paused, frowning slightly at them.  "I owe you all a debt for the escape."

            "Nah," Cloud waved it off, "You fought with us and saved our butts a few times.  Consider any debt repaid."

            Red smiled slightly, but it was obvious that he didn't agree with Cloud.  "My hometown is in Cosmo Canyon.  I'll go with you until then."

            "Glad to have ya," Barret slapped him on the back, awkward as it may sound.

            "So," Tifa swayed a bit, squinting at the morning sun, "Where are we headed?"

            "Wherever Sephiroth goes, I guess," Cloud sighed, "Might be a long way."  He paused.  "Don't be surprised if we start following the Shinra around, or vice versa.  Rufus wanted to find Sephiroth, too."

            "I'm cool with that," Barret grinned, "More of a chance to put a bullet in that dude's head!"

            "Yeah, that's the spirit," Aeris smiled wryly.  

            "Well," Barret snapped to attention, "We're gonna need a leader for this lil party!  Course only I could be that."

            "Really?" Tifa frowned.

            "I dunno," Aeris tilted her head, "I pick Cloud."  It was unanimous.

            "Hrmph!" Barret pouted and spat a curse, but he was smiling slightly.  He patted Cloud on the back.  "Don't worry, Cloud, I was gonna vote for ya anyway."

            "Right," Cloud also grinned wryly.  

            "Hmm," Red pondered, "You do know more about this Sephiroth and his mission than any of us.  Naturally, you should lead us."

            "Aye," they all replied.

            Cloud breathed deeply.  He's started out as Barret's employee who only served to piss everyone off.  Now, he was going to _lead _Barret and company, and he had all their respect.  The best laid plans of mice and men?  Oh well.  They were right.  He was the best leader in this scenario.

            "All right," he nodded, "Where's the nearest city?  We need to sleep."

            "Kalm Town," Barret answered, "It's 'bout a mile south of Midgar.  I'm getting a move on."

            "Me too," Red got to his feet.  "You can lead us there at least, Barret."

            "Hold up," Tifa joined their group, "I'm tired.  Let's go get a bloody few hours of sleep in an actual hotel."

            "I'll hang back a bit," Cloud glanced nervously upwards, "Just in case any of the Shinra want to follow us."

            "Meet ya there!" Barret waved, and his party started off.

            Aeris walked up to him and handed him a yellow Materia orb.

            "What's this?"  He quirked a brow.

            "Red got it out of the holding tank during the fight with SAMPLE," Aeris explained, "I'm not sure what it does."

            Cloud pocketed the orb and looked Aeris over.  "Ever left Midgar before?"

            "Nope," she shook her head slightly, "At least, not that I can remember."

            "Nervous…?" he dared.

            "Nah," she grinned, "I can take care of myself, but I have a bodyguard when things get tough."

            Cloud laughed and shook his head.  "If only he'd stop screwing up, eh?"

            Aeris fell silent.  She glanced around as if a little nervous.

            "Aeris…?" he asked, tensing for another battle.

            She surprised him, however, when she quickly embraced him, wrapping her arms around his waist.  Startled, but not wanting to seem cold, he returned the favor, holding her for a few moments.

            "What's this for…?" he finally whispered.

            "Thank you…" she said softly.

            "For what?"

            "For coming after me."  She released him and stepped back, a bit embarrassed.  "I thought…I thought I was screwed when Tseng took me away.  I didn't really think that anyone would brave the Shinra's powerhouse just to come help _me_.  But…I still kept hoping.  You know…maybe Cloud _would _come."  She smiled.  "And you did come, you and all of AVALANCHE!  And you got to stick it to the Shinra, too!"  She looked him in the eyes, an easy task since they were both about the same height.  "So, you see…you didn't screw up.  You never did."

            Cloud just stood there for a while, taking it all in.  She really thought that?  He'd failed her when he'd let her slip into the Shinra's hands!  Or at least, he thought so.  She apparently didn't.

            "If you say so," he finally replied.  It wasn't the most brilliant thing in the world to say, but it was all he could think of.

            Aeris laughed and shook her head.  "You know?  For all your strength you're slightly impossible when it comes to certain things."  She looked down the road, where Barret, Tifa, and Red had disappeared.  "Think it's about time?"

            "Yeah," he replied following her gaze.  "Ready?"

            She whipped out her staff and twirled it like a master.  "I think I'll be all right."  She paused.  "I'm positive, in fact…"  It was spoken lightly, too lightly for him to hear.

            Cloud and Aeris started away from Midgar together, following the trail the others had unintentionally made.  As they walked, they were silent, each thinking of different things.  In Cloud's mind, his thoughts suddenly turned from the present to the future.  Somewhere out there, a man with a black cape was moving around, setting up for something, but Cloud did not know what.  He knew only one thing.

            He would find the black caped man.

            And he would kill him.

***

NOTES: This is the first part of a three-part Final Fantasy 7 novelization I started writing in 8th grade. I've got the first few chapters of a sequel done—Chasing the Black Caped Man, which I kinda stopped writing a while back. However it was fun to write, and if people seem to like this one I might as well work more on the second part. I don't know why it took me so long to put this up…forgot it existed, I guess. There aren't many thanks to hand out for this one, since I simply don't remember who if anyone helped me while I wrote it, so thank you to anyone who read this without throwing up. Elegant, neh?

'Till next time!

--Revokov


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